Origen Against Celsus Book VIII

Chapter I.

Having completed seven books, I now propose to begin
the eighth. And may God and His Only-begotten Son the
Word be with us, to enable us effectively to refute
the falsehoods which Celsus has published under the
delusive title of A True Discourse, and at the same
time to unfold the truths of Christianity with such
fulness as our purpose requires. And as Paul said,
"We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God
did beseech you by us,"1 so would we in the same
spirit and language earnestly desire to be ambassadors
for Christ to men, even as the Word of God beseeches
them to the love of Himself, seeking to win over to
righteousness truth, and the other virtues, those who,
until they receive the doctrines of Jesus Christ, live
in darkness about God and in ignorance of their Creator.
Again, then, I would say, may God bestow upon us His
pure and true Word, even "the Lord strong and
mighty in battle"2 against sin. We must now proceed
to state the next objection of Celsus, and afterwards
to answer it.

Chapter II.

In a passage previously quoted Celsus asks us why we
do not worship demons, and to his remarks on demons
we gave such an answer as seemed to us in accordance
with the divine word. After having put this question
for the purpose of leading us to the worship of demons,
he represents us as answering that it is impossible
to serve many masters. "This," he goes on
to say, "is the language of sedition, and is only
used by those who separate themselves and stand aloof
from all human society. Those who speak in this way
ascribe," as he supposes, "their own feelings
and passions to God. It does hold true among men, that
he who is in the service of one master cannot well
serve another, because the service which he renders
to the one interferes with that which he owes to the
other; and no one, therefore, who has already engaged
himself to the service of one, must accept that of
another. And, in like manner, it is impossible to serve
at the same time heroes or demons of different natures.
But in regard to God, who is subject to no suffering
or loss, it is," he thinks, "absurd to be
on our guard against serving more gods, as though we
had to do with demi-gods, or other spirits of that
sort." He says also, "He who serves many
gods does that which is pleasing to the Most High,
because he honours that which belongs to Him."
And he adds, "It is indeed wrong to give honour
to any to whom God has not given honour." "Wherefore,"
he says, "in honouring and worshipping all belonging
to God, we will not displease Him to whom they all
belong."

Chapter III.

Before proceeding to the next point, it may be well
for us to see whether we do not accept with approval
the saying, "No man can serve two masters,"
with the addition, "for either he will hate the
one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the
one, and despise the other," and further, "Ye
cannot serve God and mammon."3 The defence of
this passage will lead us to a deeper and more searching
inquiry into the meaning and application of the words
"gods" and "lords." Divine Scripture
teaches us that there is "a great Lord above all
gods."4 And by this name "gods" we are
not to understand the objects of heathen worship (for
we know that "all the gods of the heathen are
demons"5 ), but the gods mentioned by the prophets
as forming an assembly, whom God "judges,"
and to each of whom He assigns his proper work. For
"God standeth in the assembly of the gods: He
judgeth among the gods."6 For "God is Lord
of gods," who by His Son "hath called the
earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down
thereof."7 We are also commanded to "give
thanks to the God of gods."8 Moreover, we are
taught that "God is not the God of the dead, but
of the living."9 Nor are these the only passages
to this effect; but there are very many others.

Chapter IV.

The sacred Scriptures teach us to think, in like manner,
of the Lord of lords. For they say in one place, "Give
thanks to the God of gods, for His mercy endureth for
ever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy
endureth for ever; "and in another, "God
is King of kings, and Lord of lords." For Scripture
distinguishes between those gods which are such only
in name and those which are truly gods, whether they
are called by that name or not; and the same is true
in regard to the use of the word "lords."
To this effect Paul says, "For though there be
that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth,
as there are gods many, and lords many."10 But
as the God of gods calls whom He pleases through Jesus
to his inheritance, "from the east and from the
west," and the Christ of God thus shows His superiority
to all rulers by entering into their several provinces,
and summoning men out of them to be subject to Himself,
Paul therefore, with this in view, goes on to say,
"But to us there is but one God, the Father, of
whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom are all things, and we by Him; "adding, as
if with a deep sense of the marvellous and mysterious
nature of the doctrine, "Howbeit there is not
in every man that knowledge." When he says, "To
us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all
things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things," by "us" he means himself and
all those who have risen up to the supreme God of gods
and to the supreme Lord of lords. Now he has risen
to the supreme God who gives Him an entire and undivided
worship through His Son-the word and wisdom of God
made manifest in Jesus. For it is the Son alone who
leads to God those who are striving, by the purity
of their thoughts, words, and deeds, to come near to
God the Creator of the universe. I think, therefore,
that the prince of this world, who "transforms
himself into an angel of light,"11 was referring
to this and such like statements in the words, "Him
follows a host of gods and demons, arranged in eleven
bands."12 Speaking of himself and the philosophers,
he says, "We are of the party of Jupiter; others
belong to other demons."

Chapter V.

Whilst there are thus many gods and lords, whereof some
are such in reality, and others are such only in name,
we strive to rise not only above those whom the nations
of the earth worship as gods, but also beyond those
spoken of as gods in Scripture, of whom they are wholly
ignorant who are strangers to the covenants of God
given by Moses and by our Saviour Jesus, and who have
no part in the promises which He has made to us through
them. That man rises above all demon-worship who does
nothing that is pleasing to demons; and he rises to
a blessedness beyond that of those whom Paul calls
"gods," if he is enabled, like them, or in
any way he may, "to look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are unseen."
And he who considers that" the earnest expectation
of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the
sons of God, not willingly, but by reason of him who
subjected the same in hope," whilst he praises
the creature, and sees how "it shall be freed
altogether from the bondage of corruption, and restored
to the glorious liberty of the children of God,"13
-such a one cannot be induced to combine with the service
of God the service of any other, or to serve two masters.
There is therefore nothing seditious or factious in
the language of those who hold these views, and who
refuse to serve more masters than one. To them Jesus
Christ is an all-sufficient Lord, who Himself instructs
them, in order that when fully instructed He may form
them into a kingdom worthy of God, and present them
to God the Father. But indeed they do in a sense separate
themselves and stand aloof from those who are aliens
from the commonwealth of God and strangers to His covenants,
in order that they may live as citizens of heaven,
"coming to the living God, and to the city of
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable
company of angels, to the general assembly and Church
of the first-born, which are written in heaven."14

Chapter VI.

But when we refuse to serve any other than God through
His word and wisdom, we do so, not as though we would
thereby be doing any harm or injury to God, in the
same way as injury would be done to a man by his servant
entering into the service of another, but we fear that
we ourselves should suffer harm by depriving ourselves
of our portion in God, through which we live in the
participation of the divine blessedness, and are imbued
with that excellent spirit of adoption which in the
sons of the heavenly Father cries, not with words,
but with deep effect in the inmost heart, "Abba,
Father." The Lacedaemonian ambassadors, when brought
before the king of Persia, refused to prostrate themselves
before him, when the attendants endeavoured to compel
them to do so, out of respect for that which alone
had authority and lordship over them, namely, the law
of Lycurgus.15 But they who have a much greater and
diviner embassy in "being ambassadors for Christ"
should not worship any ruler among Persians, or Greeks
or Egyptians, or of any nation whatever, even although
their officers and ministers, demons and angels of
the devil, should seek to compel them to do so, and
should urge them to set at nought a law which is mightier
than all the laws upon earth. For the Lord of those
who are "ambassadors for Christ" is Christ
Himself, whose ambassadors they are, and who is "the
Word, who was in the beginning, was with God, and was
God."16

Chapter VII.

But when Celsus speaks of heroes and demons, he starts
a deeper question than he is aware of. For after the
statement which he made in regard to service among
men, that" the first master is injured when any
of his servants wishes at the same time to serve another,"
he adds, that "the same holds true of heroes,
and other demons of that kind." Now we must inquire
of him what nature he thinks those heroes and demons
possess of whom he affirms that he who serves one hero
may not serve another, and he who serves one demon
may not serve another, as though the former hero or
demon would be injured in the same way as men are injured
when they who serve them first afterwards give themselves
to the service of others. Let him also state what loss
he supposes those heroes or demons will suffer. For
he will be driven either to plunge into endless absurdities,
and first repeat, then retract his previous statements;
or else to abandon his frivolous conjectures, and confess
that he understands nothing of the nature of heroes
and demons. And in regard to his statement, that men
suffer injury when the servant of one man enters the
service of a second master, the question arises: "What
is the nature of the injury which is done to the former
master by a servant who, while serving him, wishes
at the same time to serve another? "

Chapter VIII.

For if he answers, as one who is unlearned and ignorant
of philosophy, that the injury sustained is one which
regards things that are outside of us, it will be plainly
manifest that he knows nothing of that famous saying
of Socrates, "Anytus and Melitus may kill me,
but they cannot injure me; for it is impossible that
the better should ever be injured by the worse."
But if by injury he means a wicked impulse or an evil
habit, it is plain that no injury of this kind would
befall the wise, by one man serving two wise men in
different places. If this sense does not suit his purpose,
it is evident that his endeavours are vain to weaken
the authority of the passage, "No man can serve
two masters; "for these words can be perfectly
true only when they refer to the service which we render
to the Most High through His Son, who leadeth us to
God. And we will not serve God as though He stood in
need of our service, or as though He would be made
unhappy if we ceased to serve Him; but we do it because
we are ourselves benefited by the service of God, and
because we are freed from griefs and troubles by serving
the Most High God through His only-begotten Son, the
Word and Wisdom.

Chapter IX.

And observe the recklessness of that expression, "For
if thou worship any other of the things in the universe,"
as though he would have us believe that we are led
by our service of God to the worship of any other things
which belong to God, without any injury to ourselves.
But, as if feeling his error, he corrects the words,
"If thou worship any other of the things in the
universe," by adding, "We may honour none,
however, except those to whom that right has been given
by God." And we would put to Celsus this question
in regard to those who are honoured as gods, as demons,
or as heroes: "Now, sir, can you prove that the
right to be honoured has been given to these by God,
and that it has not arisen from the ignorance and folly
of men who in their wanderings have fallen away from
Him to whom alone worship and service are properly
due? You said a little ago, O Celsus, that Antinous,
the favourite of Adrian, is honoured; but surely you
will not say that the right to be worshipped as a god
was given to him by the God of the universe? And so
of the others, we ask proof that the right to be worshipped
was given to them by the Most High God." But if
the same question is put to us in regard to the worship
of Jesus, we will show that the right to be honoured
was given to Him by God, "that all may honour
the Son, even as they honour the Father."17 For
all the prophecies which preceded His birth were preparations
for His worship. And the wonders which He wrought-through
no magical art, as Celsus supposes, but by a divine
power, which was foretold by the prophets-have served
as a testimony from God in behalf of the worship of
Christ. He who honours the Son, who is the Word and
Reason, acts in nowise contrary to reason, and gains
for himself great good; he who honours Him, who is
the Truth, becomes better by honouring truth: and this
we may say of honouring wisdom, righteousness, and
all the other names by which the sacred Scriptures
are wont to designate the Son of God.

Chapter X.

But that the honour which we pay to the Son of God,
as well as that which we render to God the Father,
consists of an upright course of life, is plainly taught
us by the passage, "Thou that makest thy boast
of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou
God? "18 and also, "Of how much sorer punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood
of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy
thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
"19 For if he who transgresses the law dishonours
God by his transgression, and he who treads under foot
the word treads under foot the Son of God, it is evident
that he who keeps the law honours God, and that the
worshipper of God is he whose life is regulated by
the principles and precepts of the divine word. Had
Celsus known who they are who are God's people, and
that they alone are wise,-and who they are who are
strangers to God, and that these are all the wicked
who have no desire to give themselves to virtue, he
would have considered before he gave expression to
the words, "How can he who honours any of those
whom God acknowledges as His own be displeasing to
God, to whom they all belong? "

Chapter XI.

He adds, "And indeed he who, when speaking of God,
asserts that there is only one who may be called Lord,
speaks impiously, for he divides the kingdom of God,
and raises a sedition therein, implying that there
are separate factions in the divine kingdom, and that
there exists one who is His enemy." He might speak
after this fashion, if he could prove by conclusive
arguments that those who are worshipped as gods by
the heathens are truly gods, and not merely evil spirits,
which are supposed to haunt statues and temples and
altars. But we desire not only to understand the nature
of that divine kingdom of which we are continually
speaking and writing, but also ourselves to be of those
who are under the rule of God alone, so that the kingdom
of God may be ours. Celsus, however, who teaches us
to worship many gods, ought in consistency not to speak
of "the kingdom of God," but of "the
kingdom of the gods." There are therefore no factions
in the kingdom of God, nor is there any god who is
an adversary to Him, although there are some who, like
the Giants and Titans, in their wickedness wish to
contend with God in company with Celsus, and those
who declare war against Him who has by innumerable
proofs established the claims of Jesus, and against
Him who, as the Word, did, for the salvation of our
race, show Himself before all the world in such a form
as each was able to receive Him.

Chapter XII.

In what follows. some may imagine that he says something
plausible against us. "If," says he, "these
people worshipped one God alone, and no other, they
would perhaps have some valid argument against the
worship of others. But they pay excessive reverence
to one who has but lately appeared among men, and they
think it no offence against God if they worship also
His servant." To this we reply, that if Celsus
had known that saying," I and My Father are one,"20
and the words used in prayer by the Son of God, "As
Thou and I are one,21 he would not have supposed that
we worship any other besides Him who is the Supreme
God. "For," says He, "My Father is in
Me, and I in Him."22 And if any should from these
words be afraid of our going over to the side of those
who deny that the Father and the Son are two persons,
let him weigh that passage, "And the multitude
of them that believed were of one heart and of one
soul,"23 that he may understand the meaning of
the saying, "I and My Father are one." We
worship one God, the Father and the Son, therefore,
as we have explained; and our argument against the
worship of other gods still continues valid. And we
do not "reverence beyond measure one who has but
lately appeared," as though He did not exist before;24
for we believe Himself when He says, "Before Abraham
was, I am."25 Again He says, "I am the truth;
"26 and surely none of us is so simple as to suppose
that truth did not exist before the time when Christ
appeared.27 We worship, therefore, the Father of truth,
and the Son, who is the truth; and these, while they
are two, considered as persons or subsistences, are
one in unity of thought, in harmony and in identity
of will. So entirely are they one, that he who has
seen the Son, "who is the brightness of God's
glory, and the express image of His person,"28
has seen in Him who is the image, of God, God Himself.

Chapter XIII.

He further supposes, that "because we join along
with the worship of God the worship of His Son, it
follows that, in our view, not only God, but also the
servants of God, are to be worshipped." If he
had meant this to apply to those who are truly the
servants of God, after His only-begotten Son,-to Gabriel
and Michael, and the other angels and archangels, and
if he had said of these that they ought to be worshipped,-if
also he had clearly defined the meaning of the word
"worship," and the duties of the worshippers,-we
might perhaps have brought forward such thoughts as
have occurred to us on so important a subject. But
as he reckons among the servants of God the demons
which are worshipped by the heathen, he cannot induce
us, on the plea of consistency, to worship such as
are declared by the word to be servants of the evil
one, the prince of this world, who leads astray from
God as many as he can. We decline, therefore, altogether
to worship and serve those whom other men worship,
for the reason that they are not servants of God. For
if we had been taught to regard them as servants of
the Most High, we would not have called them demons.
Accordingly, we worship with all our power the one
God, and His only Son, the Word and the Image of God,
by prayers and supplications; and we offer our petitions
to the God of the universe through His only-begotten
Son. To the Son we first present them, and beseech
Him, as "the propitiation for our sins,"29
and our High Priest, to offer our desires, and sacrifices,
and prayers, to the Most High. Our faith, therefore,
is directed to God through His Son, who strengthens
it in us; anti Celsus can never show that the Son of
God is the cause of any sedition or disloyalty in the
kingdom of God. We honour the Father when we admire
His Son, the Word, and Wisdom, and Truth, and Righteousness,
and all that He who is the Son of so great a Father
is said in Scripture to be. So much on this point.

Chapter XIV.

Again Celsus proceeds: "If you should tell them
that Jesus is not the Son of God, but that, God is
the Father of all, and that He alone: ought to be truly
worshipped, they would not consent to discontinue their
worship of him who is their leader in the sedition.
And they call him Son of God, not out of any extreme
reverence for God, but from an extreme desire to extol
Jesus Christ." We, however, have learned who the
Son of God is, and know that He is "the brightness
of His glory, and the express image of His person,"
and "the breath of the power of God, and a pure
influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty; "moreover,
"the brightness of the everlasting light, the
unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image
of His goodness."30 We know, therefore, that He
is the Son of God, and that God is His father. And
there is nothing extravagant or unbecoming the character
of God in the doctrine that He should have begotten
such an only Son; and no one will persuade us that
such a one is not a Son of the unbegotten God and Father.
If Celsus has heard something of certain persons holding
that the Son of God is not the Son of the Creator of
the universe, that is a matter which lies between him
and the supporters of such an opinion. Jesus is, then,
not the leader of any seditious movement, but the promoter
of peace. For He said to His disciples, "Peace
I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; "and
as He knew that it would be men of the world, and not
men of God, who would wage war against us, he added,
"Not as the world giveth peace, do I give peace
unto you."31 And even although we are oppressed
in the world, we have confidence in Him who said, "In
the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world." And it is He
whom we call Son of God-Son of that God, namely, whom,
to quote the words of Celsus, "we most highly
reverence; "and He is the Son who has been most
highly exalted by the Father. Grant that there may
be some individuals among the multitudes of believers
who are not in entire agreement with us, and who incautiously
assert that the Saviour is the Most High God; however,
we do not hold with them, but rather believe Him when
He says, "The Father who sent Me is greater than
I."32 We would not therefore make Him whom we
call Father inferior-as Celsus accuses us of doing-to
the Son of God.

Chapter XV.

Celsus goes on to say: "That I may give a true
representation of their faith, I will use their own
words, as given in what is called A Heavenly Dialogue:
'If the Son is mightier than God, and the Son of man
is Lord over Him, who else than the Son can be Lord
over that God who is the ruler over all things? How
comes it, that while so many go about the well, no
one goes down into it? Why art thou afraid when thou
hast gone so far on the way? Answer: Thou art mistaken,
for I lack neither courage nor weapons.' Is it not
evident, then, that their views are precisely such
as I have described them to be? They suppose that another
God, who is above the heavens, is the Father of him
whom with one accord they honour, that they may honour
this Son of man alone, whom they exalt under the form
and name of the great God, and whom they assert to
be stronger than God, who rules the world, and that
he rules over Him. And hence that maxim of theirs,
`It is impossible to serve two masters, 'is maintained
for the purpose of keeping up the party who are on
the side of this Lord." Here, again, Celsus quotes
opinions from some most obscure sect of heretics, and
ascribes them to all Christians. I call it "a
most obscure sect; "for although we have often
contended with heretics, yet we are unable to discover
from what set of opinions he has taken this passage,
if indeed he has quoted it from any author, and has
not rather concocted it himself, or added it as an
inference of his own. For we who say that the visible
world is under the government to Him who created all
things, do thereby declare that the Son is not mightier
than the Father, but inferior to Him. And this belief
we ground on the saying of Jesus Himself, "The
Father who sent Me is greater than I." And none
of us is so insane as to affirm that the Son of man
is Lord over God. But when we regard the Saviour as
God the Word, and Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Truth,
we certainly do say that He has dominion over all things
which have been subjected to Him in this capacity,
but not that His dominion extends over the God and
Father who is Ruler over all.33 Besides, as the Word
rules over none against their will, there are still
wicked beings-not only men, but also angels, and all
demons-over whom we say that in a sense He does not
rule, since they do not yield Him a willing obedience;
but, in another sense of the word, He rules even over
them, in the same way as we say that man rules over
the irrational animals,-not by persuasion, but as one
who tames and subdues lions and beasts of burden. Nevertheless,
he leaves no means untried to persuade even those who
are still disobedient to submit to His authority. So
far as we are concerned, therefore, we deny the truth
of that which Celsus quotes as one of our sayings,
"Who else than He can be Lord over Him who is
God over all? "

Chapter XVI

The remaining part of the extract given by Celsus seems
to have been taken from some other form of heresy,
and the whole jumbled together in strange confusion:
"How is it, that while so many go about the well,
no one goes down into it? Why dost thou shrink with
fear when thou hast gone so far on the way? Answer:
Thou art mistaken, for I lack neither courage nor weapons."
We who belong to the Church which takes its name from
Christ, assert that none of these statements are true.
For he seems to have made them simply that they might
harmonize with what he had said before; but they have
no reference to us. For it is a principle with us,
not to worship any god whom we merely "suppose"
to exist, but Him alone who is the Creator of this
universe, and of all things besides which are unseen
by the eye of sense. These remarks of Celsus may apply
to those who go on another road and tread other paths
from us,-men who deny the Creator, and make to themselves
another god under a new form, having nothing but the
name of God, whom they esteem higher than the Creator;
and with these may be joined any that there may be
who say that the Son is greater than the God who rules
all things. In reference to the precept that we ought
not to serve two masters, we have already shown what
appears to us the principle contained in it, when we
proved that no sedition or disloyalty could be charged
against the followers of Jesus their Lord, who confess
that they reject every other lord, and serve Him alone
who is the Son and Word of God.

Chapter XVII.

Celsus then proceeds to say that "we shrink from
raising altars, statues, and temples; and this,"
he thinks, "has been agreed upon among us as the
badge or distinctive mark of a secret and forbidden
society." He does not perceive that we regard
the spirit of every good man as an altar from which
arises an incense which is truly and spiritually sweet-smelling,
namely, the prayers ascending from a pure conscience.
Therefore it is said by John in the Revelation, "The
odours are the prayers of saints; "34 and by the
Psalmist, "Let my prayer come up before Thee as
incense."35 And the statues and gifts which are
fit offerings to God are the work of no common mechanics,
but are wrought and fashioned in us by the Word of
God, to wit, the virtues in which we imitate "the
First-born of all creation," who has set us an
example of justice, of temperance, of courage, of wisdom,
of piety, and of the other virtues. In all those, then,
who plant and cultivate within their souls, according
to the divine word, temperance, justice, wisdom, piety,
and other virtues, these excellences are their statues
they raise, in which we are persuaded that it is becoming
for us to honour the model and prototype of all statues:
"the image of the invisible God," God the
Only-begotten. And again, they who "put off the
old man with his deeds, and put on the new man, which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that
hath created him," in taking upon them the image
of Him who hath created them, do raise within themselves
a statue like to what the Most High God Himself desires.
And as among statuaries there are some who are marvellously
perfect in their art, as for example Pheidias and Polycleitus,
and among painters, Zeuxis and Apelles, whilst others
make inferior statues, and others, again, are inferior
to the second-rate artists,-so that, taking all together,
there is a wide difference in the execution of statues
and pictures,-in the same way there are some who form
images of the Most High in a better manner and with
a more perfect skill; so that there is no comparison
even between the Olympian Jupiter of Pheidias and the
man who has been fashioned according to the image of
God the Creator. But by far the most excellent of all
these throughout the whole creation is that image in
our Saviour who said, "My Father is in Me."

Chapter XVIII.

And every one who imitates Him according to his ability,
does by this very endeavour raise a statue according
to the image of the Creator for in the contemplation
of God with a pure heart they become imitators of Him.
And, in general, we see that all Christians strive
to raise altars and statues as we have described them
and these not of a lifeless and senseless kind and
not to receive greedy spirits intent upon lifeless
things, but to be filled with the Spirit of God who
dwells in the images of virtue of which we have spoken,
and takes His abode in the soul which is conformed
to the image of the Creator. Thus the Spirit of Christ
dwells in those who bear, so to say, a resemblance
in form and feature to Himself. And the Word of God,
wishing to set this clearly before us, represents God
as promising to the righteous, "I will dwell in
them, and walk among them; and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people."36 And the Saviour
says, "If any man hear My words, and do them,
I and My Father will come to him, and make Our abode
with him."37 Let any one, therefore, who chooses
compare the altars which I have described with those
spoken of by Celsus, and the images in the souls of
those who worship the Most High God with the statues
of Pheidias, Polycleitus, and such like, and he will
clearly perceive, that while the latter are lifeless
things, and subject to the ravages of time, the former
abide in the immortal spirit as long as the reasonable
soul wishes to preserve them.

Chapter XIX.

And if, further, temples are to be compared with temples,
that we may prove to those who accept the opinions
of Celsus that we do not object to the erection of
temples suited to the images and altars of which we
have spoken, but that we do refuse to build lifeless
temples to the Giver of all life, let any one who chooses
learn how we are taught, that our bodies are the temple
of God, and that if any one by lust or sin defiles
the temple of God, he will himself be destroyed, as
acting impiously towards the true temple. Of all the
temples spoken of in this sense, the best and most
excellent was the pure and holy body of our Saviour
Jesus Christ. When He knew that wicked men might aim
at the destruction of the temple of God in Him, but
that their purposes of destruction would not prevail
against the divine power which had built that temple,
He says to them, "Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it again.... This He said of
the temple of His body."38 And in other parts
of holy Scripture where it speaks of the mystery of
the resurrection to those whose ears are divinely opened,
it says that the temple which has been destroyed shall
be built up again of living and most precious stones,
thereby giving us to understand that each of those
who are led by the word of God to strive together in
the duties of piety, will be a precious stone in the
one great temple of God. Accordingly, Peter says, "Ye
also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ; "39 and Paul
also says, "Being built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ our Lord being
the chief cornerstone."40 And there is a similar
hidden allusion in this passage in Isaiah, which is
addressed to Jerusalem: "Behold, I will lay thy
stones with carbuncles, and lay thy foundations with
sapphires. And I will make thy battlements of jasper,
and thy gates of crystal, and all thy borders of pleasant
stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the
Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
In righteousness shall thou be established."41

Chapter XX.

There are, then, among the righteous some who are carbuncles,
others sapphires, others jaspers, and others crystals,
and thus there is among the righteous every kind of
choice and precious stone. As to the spiritual meaning
of the different stones,-what is their nature, and
to what kind of soul the name of each precious stone
especially applies,-we cannot at present stay, to examine.
We have only felt it necessary to show thus briefly
what we understand by temples, and what the one Temple
of God built of precious stones truly means. For as
if in some cities a dispute should arise as to which
had the finest temples, those who thought their own
were the best would do their utmost to show the excellence
of their own temples and the inferiority of the others,-in
like manner, when they reproach us for not deeming
it necessary to worship the Divine Being by raising
lifeless temples, we set before them our temples, and
show to such at least as are not blind and senseless,
like their senseless gods, that there is no comparison
between our statues and the statues of the heathen,
nor between our altars, with what we may call the incense
ascending from them, and the heathen altars, with the
fat and blood of the victims; nor, finally, between
the temples of senseless gods, admired by senseless
men, who have no divine faculty for perceiving God,
and the temples, statues, and altars which are worthy
of God. It is not therefore true that we object to
building altars, statues, and temples, because we have
agreed to make this the badge of a secret and forbidden
society; but we do so, because we have learnt from
Jesus Christ the true way of serving God, and we shrink
from whatever, under a pretence of piety, leads to
utter impiety those who abandon the way marked out
for us by Jesus Christ. For it is He who alone is the
way of piety, as He truly said, "I am the way,
the truth, the life."

Chapter XXI.

Let us see what Celsus further says of God, and how
he urges us to the use of those things which are properly
called idol offerings, or, still better, offerings
to demons, although, in his ignorance of what true
sanctity is, and what sacrifices are well-pleasing
to God, he call them "holy sacrifices." His
words are, "God is the God of all alike; He is
good, He stands in need of nothing, and He is without
jealousy. What, then, is there to hinder those who
are most devoted to His service from taking part in
public feasts. I cannot see the connection which he
fancies between God's being good, and independent,
and free from jealousy, and His devoted servants taking
part in public feasts. I confess, indeed, that from
the fact that God is good, and without want of anything,
and free from jealousy, it would follow as a consequence
that we might take part in public feasts, if it were
proved that the public feasts had nothing wrong in
them, and were grounded upon true views of the character
of God, so that they resulted naturally from a devout
service of God. If, however, the so-called public festivals
can in no way be shown to accord with the service of
God, but may on the contrary be proved to have been
devised by men when occasion offered to commemorate
some human events, or to set forth certain qualities
of water or earth, or the fruits of the earth,-in that
case, it is clear that those who wish to offer an enlightened
worship to the Divine Being will act according to sound
reason, and not take part in the public feasts. For
"to keep a feast," as one of the wise men
of Greece has well said, "is nothing else than
to do one's duty; "42 and that man truly celebrates
a feast who does his duty and prays always, offering
up continually bloodless sacrifices in prayer to God.
That therefore seems to me a most noble saying of Paul,
"Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour
in vain."43

Chapter XXII.

If it be objected to us on this subject that we ourselves
are accustomed to observe certain days, as for example
the Lord's day, the Preparation, the Passover, or Pentecost,
I have to answer, that to the perfect Christian, who
is ever in his thoughts, words, and deeds serving his
natural Lord, God the Word, all his days are the Lord's,
and he is always keeping the Lord's day. He also who
is unceasingly preparing himself for the true life,
and abstaining from the pleasures of this life which
lead astray so many,-who is not indulging the lust
of the flesh, but "keeping under his body, and
bringing it into subjection,"-such a one is always
keeping Preparation-day. Again, he who considers that
"Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us,"
and that it is his duty to keep the feast by eating
of the flesh of the Word, never ceases to keep the
paschal feast; for the pascha means a "passover,"
and he is ever striving in all his thoughts, words,
and deeds, to pass over from the things of this life
to God, and is hastening towards the city of God. And,
finally, he who can truly say, "We are risen with
Christ," and "He hath exalted us, and made
us to sit with Him in heavenly places in Christ,"
is always living in the season of Pentecost; and most
of all, when going up to the upper chamber, like the
apostles of Jesus, he gives himself to supplication
and prayer, that he may become worthy of receiving
"the mighty wind rushing from heaven," which
is powerful to destroy sin and its fruits among men,
and worthy of having some share of the tongue of fire
which God sends.

Chapter XXIII.

But the majority of those who are accounted believers
are not of this advanced class; but from being either
unable or unwilling to keep every day in this manner,
they require some sensible memorials to prevent spiritual
things from passing altogether away from their minds.
It is to this practice of setting apart some days distinct
from others, that Paul seems to me to refer in the
expression, "part of the feast; "44 and by
these words he indicates that a life in accordance
with the divine word consists not "in a part of
the feast," but in one entire and never ceasing
festival.45 Again, compare the festivals, observed
among us as these have been described above, with the
public feasts of Celsus and the heathen, and say if
the former are not much more sacred observances than
those feasts in which the lust of the flesh runs riot,
and leads to drunkenness and debauchery. It would be
too long for us at present to show why we are required
by the law of God to keep its festivals by eating "the
bread of affliction,"46 or "unleavened with
bitter herbs,"47 or why it says, "Humble
your souls,"48 and such like. For it is impossible
for man, who is a compound being, in which "the
flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against
the flesh,"49 to keep the feast with his whole
nature; for either he keeps the feast with his spirit
and afflicts the body, which through the lust of the
flesh is unfit to keep it along with the spirit, or
else he keeps it with the body, and the spirit is unable
to share in it. But we have for the present said enough
on the subject of feasts.

Chapter XXIV.

Let us now see on what grounds Celsus urges us to make
use of the idol offerings and the public sacrifices
in the public feasts. His words are, "If these
idols are nothing, what harm will there be in taking
part in the feast? On the other hand, if they are demons,
it is certain that they too are God's creatures, and
that we must believe in them, sacrifice to them according
to the laws, and pray to them that they may be propitious."
In reference to this statement, it would be profitable
for us to take up and clearly explain the whole passage
of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, in which Paul
treats of offerings to idols.50 The apostle draws from
the fact that "an idol is nothing in the world,"
the consequence that it is injurious to use things
offered to idols; and he shows to those who have ears
to hear on such subjects, that he who partakes of things
offered to idols is worse than a murderer, for he destroys
his own brethren, for whom Christ died. And further,
he maintains that the sacrifices are made to demons;
and from that he proceeds to show that those who join
the table of demons become associated with the demons;
and he concludes that a man cannot both be a partaker
of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
But since it would require a whole treatise to set
forth fully all that is contained on this subject in
the Epistle to the Corinthians, we shall content ourselves
with this brief statement of the argument; for it will
be evident to any one who carefully considers what
has been said, that even if idols are nothing, nevertheless
it is an awful thing to join in idol festivals. And
even supposing that there are such beings as demons
to whom the sacrifices are offered, it it has been
clearly shown that we are forbidden to take part in
these festivals, when we know the difference between
the table of the Lord and the table of demons. And
knowing this, we endeavour as much as we can to be
always partakers of the Lord's table, and beware to
the utmost of joining at any time the table of demons.

Chapter XXV.

Celsus says that "the demons belong to God, and
are therefore to be believed, to be sacrificed to according
to laws, and to be prayed to that they may be propitious."
Those who are disposed to learn, must know that the
word of God nowhere says of evil things that they belong
to God, for it judges them unworthy of such a Lord.
Accordingly, it is not all men who bear the name of
"men of God," but only those who are worthy
of God,-such as Moses and Elias, and any others who
are so called, or such as resemble those who are so
called in Scripture. In the same way, all angels are
not said to be angels of God, but only those that are
blessed: those that have fallen away into sin are called
"angels of the devil," just as bad men are
called "men of sin," "sons of perdition,"
or "sons of iniquity." Since, then, among
men some are good and others bad, and the former are
said to be God's and the latter the devil's, so among
angels some are angels of God, and others angels of
the devil. But among demons there is no such distinction,
for all are said to be wicked. We do not therefore
hesitate to say that Celsus is false when he says,
"If they are demons, it is evident that they must
also belong to God." He must either show that
this distinction of good and bad among angels and men
has no foundation, or else that a similar distinction
may be shown to hold among demons. If that is impossible,
it is plain that demons do not belong to God; for their
prince is not God, but, as holy Scripture says, "Beelzebub."

Chapter XXVI.

And we are not to believe in demons, although Celsus
urges us to do so; but if we are to obey God, we must
die, or endure anything, sooner than obey demons. In
the same way, we are not to propitiate demons; for
it is impossible to propitiate beings that are wicked
and that seek the injury of men. Besides, what are
the laws in accordance with which Celsus would have
us propitiate the demons? For if he means laws enacted
in states, he must show that they are in agreement
with the divine laws. But if that cannot be done, as
the laws of many states are quite inconsistent with
each other, these laws, therefore, must of necessity
either be no laws at all in the proper sense of the
word, or else the enactments of wicked men; and these
we must not obey, for "we must obey God rather
than men." Away, then, with this counsel, which
Celsus gives us, to offer prayer to demons: it is not
to be listened to for a moment; for our duty is to
pray to the Most High God alone, and to the Only-begotten,
the First-born of the whole creation, and to ask Him
as our High Priest to present the prayers which ascend
to Him from us, to His God and our God, to His Father
and the Father of those who direct their lives according
to His word.51 And as we would have no desire to enjoy
the favour of those men who wish us to follow their
wicked lives, and who give us their favour only on
condition that we choose nothing opposed to their wishes,
because their favour would make us enemies of God,
who cannot be pleased with those who have such men
for their friends,-in the same way those who are acquainted
with the nature, the purposes, and the wickedness of
demons, can never wish to obtain their favour.

Chapter XXVII.

And Christians have nothing to fear, even if demons
should not be well-disposed to them; for they are protected
by the Supreme God, who is well pleased with their
piety, and who sets His divine angels to watch over
those who are worthy of such guardianship, so that
they can suffer nothing from demons. He who by his
piety possesses the favour of the Most High, who has
accepted the guidance of Jesus, the "Angel of
the great counsel,"52 being well contented with
the favour of God through Christ Jesus, may say with
confidence that he has nothing to suffer from the whole
host of demons. "The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid? Though an host should encamp
against me, my heart shall not fear."53 So much,
then, in reply to those statements of Celsus: "If
they are demons, they too evidently belong to God,
and they are to be believed, to be sacrificed to according
to the laws, and prayers are to be offered to them
that they may be propitious."

Chapter XXVIII.

We shall now proceed to the next statement of Celsus,
and examine it with care: "If in obedience to
the traditions of their fathers they abstain from such
victims, they must also abstain from all animal food,
in accordance with the opinions of Pythagoras, who
thus showed his respect for the soul and its bodily
organs. But if, as they say, they abstain that they
may not eat along with demons, I admire their wisdom,
in having at length discovered, that whenever they
eat they eat with demons, although they only refuse
to do so when they are looking upon a slain victim;
for when they eat bread, or drink wine, or taste fruits,
do they not receive these things, as well as the water
they drink and the air they breathe, from certain demons,
to whom have been assigned these different provinces
of nature? "Here I would observe that I cannot
see how those whom he speaks of as abstaining from
certain victims, in accordance with the traditions
of their fathers, are consequently bound to abstain
from the flesh of all animals. We do not indeed deny
that the divine word does seem to command something
similar to this, when to raise us to a higher and purer
life it says, "It is good neither to eat flesh,
nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother
stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak; "54
and again, "Destroy not him with thy meat, for
whom Christ died; "55 and again, "If meat
make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while
the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend."56

Chapter XXIX.

But it is to be observed that the Jews, who claim for
themselves a correct understanding of the law of Moses,
carefully restrict their food to such things as are
accounted clean, and abstain from those that are unclean.
They also do not use in their food the blood of an
animal nor the flesh of an animal torn by wild beasts,
and some other things which it would take too long
for us at present to detail. But Jesus, wishing to
lead all men by His teaching to the pure worship and
service of God, and anxious not to throw any hindrance
in the way of many who might be benefited by Christianity,
through the imposition of a burdensome code of rules
in regard to food, has laid it down, that "not
that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but
that which cometh out of the mouth; for whatsoever
entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and
is cast out into the draught. But those things which
proceed out of the mouth are evil thoughts when spoken,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies."57 Paul also says, "Meat commendeth
us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better;
neither, if we eat not, are we the worse."58 Wherefore,
as there is some obscurity about this matter, without
some explanation is given, it seemed good to the apostles
of Jesus and the elders assembled together at Antioch,59
and also, as they themselves say, to the Holy Spirit,
to write a letter to the Gentile believers, forbidding
them to partake of those things from which alone they
say it is necessary to abstain, namely, "things
offered to idols, things strangled, and blood."60

Chapter XXX.

For that which is offered to idols is sacrificed to
demons, and a man of God must not join the table of
demons. As to things strangled, we are forbidden by
Scripture to partake of them, because the blood is
still in them; and blood, especially the odour arising
from blood, is said to be the food of demons. Perhaps,
then, if we were to eat of strangled animals, we might
have such spirits feeding along with us. And the reason
which forbids the use of strangled animals for food
is also applicable to the use of blood. And it may
not be amiss, as bearing on this point, to recall a
beautiful saying in the writings of Sextus,61 which
is known to most Christians: "The eating of animals,"
says he, "is a matter of indifference; but to
abstain from them is more agreeable to reason."
It is not, therefore, simply an account of some traditions
of our fathers that we refrain from eating victims
offered to those called gods or heroes or demons, but
for other reasons, some of which I have here mentioned.
it is not to be supposed, however, that we are to abstain
from the flesh of animals in the same way as we are
bound to abstain from all race and wickedness: we are
indeed to abstain not only from the flesh of animals,
but from all other kinds of food, if we cannot partake
of them without incurring evil, and the consequences
of evil. For we are to avoid eating for gluttony, or
for the mere gratification of the appetite, without
regard to the health and sustenance of the body. We
do not believe that souls pass from one body to another,
and that they may descend so low as to enter the bodies
of the brutes. If we abstain at times from eating the
flesh of animals, it is evidently, therefore, not for
the same reason as Pythagoras; for it is the reasonable
soul alone that we honour, and we commit its bodily
organs with due honours to the grave. For it is not
right that the dwelling-place of the rational soul
should be cast aside anywhere without honour, like
the carcases of brute beasts; and so much the more
when we believe that the respect paid to the body redounds
to the honour of the person who received from God a
soul which has nobly employed the organs of the body
in which it resided. In regard to the question, "How
are the dead raised up, and with what body do they
come? "62 we have already answered it briefly,
as our purpose required.

Chapter XXXI.

Celsus afterwards states what is adduced by Jews and
Christians alike in defence of abstinence from idol
sacrifices, namely, that it is wrong for those who
have dedicated themselves to the Most High God to eat
with demons. What he brings forward against this view,
we have already seen. In our opinion, a man can only
be said to eat and drink with demons when he eats the
flesh of what are called sacred victims, and when he
drinks the wine poured out to the honour of the demons.
But Celsus thinks that we cannot eat bread or drink
wine in any way whatever, or taste fruits, or even
take a draught of water, without eating and drinking
with demons. He adds also, that the air which we breathe
is received from demons, and that not an animal can
breathe without receiving the air from the demons who
are set over the air. If any one wishes to defend this
statement of Celsus, let him show that it is not the
divine angels of god, but demons, the whole race of
whom are bad, that have been appointed to communicate
all those blessings which have been mentioned. We indeed
also maintain with regard not only to the fruits of
the earth, but to every flowing stream and every breath
of air that the ground brings forth those things which
are said to grow up naturally,-that the water springs
in fountains, and refreshes the earth with running
streams,-that the air is kept pure, and supports the
life of those who breathe it, only in consequence of
the agency and control of certain beings whom we may
call invisible husbandmen and guardians; but we deny
that those invisible agents are demons. And if we might
speak boldly, we would say that if demons have any
share at all in these things, to them belong famine,
blasting of the vine and fruit trees, pestilence among
men and beasts: all these are the proper occupations
of demons, who in the capacity of public executioners
receive power at certain times to carry out the divine
judgments, for the restoration of those who have plunged
headlong into wickedness, or for the trial and discipline
of the souls of the wise. For those who through all
their afflictions preserve their piety pure and unimpaired,
show their true character to all spectators, whether
visible or invisible, who behold them; while those
who are otherwise minded, yet conceal their wickedness,
when they have their true character exposed by misfortunes,
become manifest to themselves as well as to those whom
we may also call spectators.

Chapter XXXII.

The Psalmist bears witness that divine justice employs
certain evil angels to inflict calamities upon men:
"He cast upon them the fierceness of His anger,
wrath, and indignation, and trouble, sent by evil angels."63
Whether demons ever go beyond this when they are suffered
to do what they are ever ready, though through the
restraint put upon them they are not always able to
do, is a question to be solved by that man who can
conceive, in so far as human nature will allow, how
it accords with the divine justice, that such multitudes
of human souls are separated from the body while walking
in the paths which lead to certain death. "For
the judgments of God are so great," that a soul
which is still clothed with a mortal body cannot comprehend
them; "and they cannot be expressed: therefore
by unnurtured souls"64 they are not in any measure
to be understood. And hence, too, rash spirits, by
their ignorance in these matters, and by recklessly
setting themselves against the Divine Being, multiply
impious objections against providence. It is not from
demons, then, that men receive any of those things
which meet the necessities of life, and least of all
ourselves, who have been taught to make a proper use
of these things. And they who partake of corn and wine,
and the fruits of trees, of water and of air, do not
feed with demons, but rather do they feast with divine
angels, who are appointed for this purpose, and who
are as it were invited to the table of the pious man,
who hearkens to the precept of the word, which says,
"Whether ye eat or drink, or whatever y.e do,
do all to the glory of God."65 And again, in another
place it is written, "Do all things in the name
of God."66 When, therefore, we eat and drink and
breathe to the glory of God, and act in all things
according to what is right, we feast with no demons,
but with divine angels: "For every creature is
good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received
with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word
of God and prayer."67 But it could not be good,
and it could not be sanctified, if these things were,
as Celsus supposes, entrusted to the charge of demons.

Chapter XXXIII.

From this it is evident that we have already met the
next statement of Celsus, which is as follows: "We
must either not live, and indeed not come into this
life at all, or we must do so on condition that we
give thanks and first-fruits and prayers to demons,
who have been set over the things of this world: and
that we must do as long as we live, that they may prove
good and kind." We must surely live, and we must
live according to the word of God, as far as we are
enabled to do so. And we are thus enabled to live,
when, "whether we eat or drink, we do all to the
glory of God; "and we are not to refuse to enjoy
those things which have been created for our use, but
must receive them with thanksgiving to the Creator.
And it is under these conditions, and not such as have
been imagined by Celsus, that we have been brought
into life by God; and we are not placed under demons,
but we are under the government of the Most High God,
through Him who hath brought us to God-Jesus Christ.
It is not according to the law of God that any demon
has had a share in worldly affairs, but it was by their
own lawlessness that they perhaps sought out for themselves
places destitute of the knowledge of God and of the
divine life, or places where there are many enemies
of God. Perhaps also, as being fit to rule over and
punish them, they have been set by the Word, who governs
all things, to rule over those who subjected themselves
to evil and not to God. For this reason, then, let
Celsus, as one who knows not God, give thank-offerings
to demons. But we give thanks to the Creator of all,
and, along with thanksgiving and prayer for the blessings
we have received, we also eat the bread presented to
us; and this bread becomes by prayer a sacred body,
which sanctifies those who sincerely partake of it.

Chapter XXXIV.

Celsus would also have us to offer first-fruits to demons.
But we would offer them to Him who said, "Let
the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed,
and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose
seed is in itself upon the earth."68 And to Him
to whom we offer first-fruits we also send up our prayers,
"having a great high priest, that is passed into
the heavens, Jesus the Son of God," and "we
hold fast this profession"69 as long as we live;
for we find God and His only-begotten Son, manifested
to us in Jesus; to be gracious and kind to us. And
if we would wish to have besides a great number of
beings who shall ever prove friendly to us, we are
taught that "thousand thousands stood before Him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand ministered unto
Him."70 And these, regarding all as their relations
and friends who imitate their piety towards God, and
in prayer call upon Him with sincerity, work along
with them for their salvation, appear unto them, deem
it their office and duty to attend to them, and as
if by common agreement they visit with all manner of
kindness and deliverance those who pray to God, to
whom they themselves also pray: "For they are
all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for
those who shall be heirs of salvation."71 Let
the learned Greeks say that the human soul at its birth
is placed under the charge of demons: Jesus has taught
us not to despise even the little ones in His Church,
saying, "Their angels do always behold the face
of My Father which is in heaven."72 And the prophet
says, "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about
them that fear Him, and delivereth them."73 We
do not, then, deny that there are many demons upon
earth, but we maintain that they exist and exercise
power among the wicked, as a punishment of their wickedness.
But they have no power over those who "have put
on the whole armour of God," who have received
strength to "withstand the wiles of the devil,"74
and who are ever engaged in contests with them, knowing
that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places."75

Chapter XXV.

Now let us consider another saying of Celsus, which
is as follows: "The satrap of a Persian or Roman
monarch, or ruler or general or governor, yea, even
those who fill lower offices of trust or service in
the state, would be able to do great injury to those
who despised them; and will the satraps and ministers
of earth and air be insulted with impunity? "Observe
now how he introduces servants of the Most High-rulers,
generals, governors, and those filling lower offices
of trust and service-as, after the manner of men, inflicting
injury upon those who insult them. For he does not
consider that a wise man would not wish to do harm
to any, but would strive to the utmost of his power
to change and amend them; unless, indeed, it be that
those whom Celsus makes servants and rulers appointed
by the Most High are behind Lycurgus, the lawgiver
of the Lacedaemonians, or Zeno of Citium. For when
Lycurgus had had his eye put out by a man, he got the
offender into his power; but instead of taking revenge
upon him, he ceased not to use all his arts of persuasion
until he induced him to become a philosopher. And Zeno,
on the occasion of some one saying, "Let me perish
rather than not have my revenge on thee," answered
him, "But rather let me perish if I do not make
a friend of thee." And I am not yet speaking of
those whose characters have been formed by the teaching
of Jesus, and who have heard the words, "Love
your enemies, and pray for them which despitefully
use you, that ye may be the children of your Father
which is in heaven; for He maketh His sun to rise on
the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just
and on the unjust."76 And in the prophetical writings
the righteous man says, "O Lord my God, if I have
done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; if I have
returned evil to those who have done evil to me, let
me fall helpless under mine enemies: let my enemy persecute
my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life
upon the earth."77

Chapter XXXVI.

But the angels, who are the true rulers and generals
and ministers of God, do not, as Celsus supposes, "injure
those who offend them; "and if certain demons,
whom Celsus had in mind, do inflict evils, they show
that they are wicked, and that they have received no
office of the kind from God. And they even do injury
to those who are under them, and who have acknowledged
them as their masters; and accordingly, as it would
seem that those who break through the regulations which
prevail in any country in regard to matters of food,
suffer for it if they are under the demons of that
place, while those who are not under them, and have
not submitted to their power, are free from all harm,
and bid defiance to such spirits; although if, in ignorance
of certain things, they have come under the power of
other demons, they may suffer punishment from them.
But the Christian-the true Christian, I mean-who has
submitted to God alone and His Word, will suffer nothing
from demons, for He is mightier than demons. And the
Christian will suffer nothing, for "the angel
of the Lord will encamp about them that fear Him, and
will deliver them,"78 and his "angel,"
who "always beholds the face of his Father in
heaven,"79 offers up his prayers through the one
High Priest to the God of all, and also joins his own
prayers with those of the man who is committed to his
keeping. Let not, then, Celsus try to scare us with
threats of mischief from demons, for we despise them.
And the demons, when despised, can do no harm to those
who are under the protection of Him who can alone help
all who deserve His aid; and He does no less than set
His own angels over His devout servants, so that none
of the hostile angels, nor even he who is called "the
prince of this world,"80 can effect anything against
those who have given themselves to God.

Chapter XXXVII.

In the next place, Celsus forgets that he is addressing
Christians, who pray to God alone through Jesus; and
mixing up other notions with theirs, he absurdly attributes
them all to Christians. "If," says he, "they
who are addressed are called upon by barbarous names,
they will have power, but no longer will they have
any if they are addressed in Greek or Latin."
Let him, then, state plainly whom we call upon for
help by barbarous names. Any one will be convinced
that this is a false charge which Celsus brings against
us, when he considers that Christians in prayer do
not even use the precise names which divine Scripture
applies to God; but the Greeks use Greek names, the
Romans Latin names, and every one prays and sings praises
to God as he best can, in his mother tongue. For the
Lord of all the languages of the earth hears those
who pray to Him in each different tongue, hearing,
if I may so say, but one voice, expressing itself in
different dialects.81 For the Most High is not as one
of those who select one language, Barbarian or Greek,
knowing nothing of any other, and caring nothing for
those who speak in other tongues.

Chapter XXXVIII.

He next represents Christians as saying what he never
heard from any Christian; or if he did, it must have
been from one of the most ignorant and lawless of the
people. "Behold," they are made to say, "I
go up to a statue of Jupiter or Apollo, or some other
god: I revile it, and beat it, yet it takes no vengeance
on me." He is not aware that among the prohibitions
of the divine law is this, "Thou shalt not revile
the gods,"82 and this is intended to prevent the
formation of the habit of reviling any one whatever;
for we have been taught, "Bless, and curse not,"83
and it is said that "revilers shall not inherit
the kingdom of God."84 And who amongst us is so
foolish as to speak in the way Celsus describes, and
to fail to see that such contemptuous language can
be of no avail for removing prevailing notions about
the gods? For it is matter of observation that there
are men who utterly deny the existence of a God or
of an overruling providence, and who by their impious
and destructive teaching have founded sects among those
who are called philosophers, and yet neither they themselves,
nor those who have embraced their opinions, have suffered
any of those things which mankind generally account
evils: they are both strong in body and rich in possessions.
And yet if we ask what loss they have sustained, we
shall find that they have suffered the most certain
injury. For what greater injury can befall a man than
that he should be unable amidst the order of the world
to see Him who has made it? and what sorer affliction
can come to any one than that blindness of mind which
prevents him from seeing the Creator and Father of
every soul?

Chapter XXXIX,

After putting such words into our mouth, and maliciously
charging Christians with sentiments which they never
held, he then proceeds to give to this supposed expression
of Christian feeling an answer, which is indeed more
a mockery than an answer, when he says, "Do you
not see, good sir, that even your own demon is not
only reviled, but banished from every land and sea,
and you yourself, who are as it were an image dedicated
to him, are bound and led to punishment, and fastened
to the stake, whilst your demon-or, as you call him,
`the Son of God'-takes no vengeance on the evil-doer?
"This answer would be admissible if we employed
such language as he ascribes to us; although even then
he would have no right to call the Son of God a demon.
For as we hold that all demons are evil, He who turns
so many men to God is in our view no demon, but God
the Word, and the Son of God. And I know not how Celsus
has so far forgotten himself as to call Jesus Christ
a demon, when he nowhere alludes to the existence of
any evil demons. And finally, as to the punishments
threatened against the ungodly, these will come upon
them after they have refused all remedies, and have
been, as we may say, visited with an incurable malady
of sinfulness.

Chapter XL.

Such is our doctrine of punishment; and the inculcation
of this doctrine turns many from their sins. But let
us see, on the other hand, what is the response given
on this subject by the priest of Jupiter or Apollo
of whom Celsus speaks. It is this: "The mills
of the gods grind slowly."85 Another describes
punishment as reaching "to children's children,
and to those who came after them."86 How much
better are those words of Scripture: "The fathers
shall not be put to death for the children, nor the
children for the fathers. Every man shall be put to
death for his own sin."87 And again, "Every
man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be
set on edge."88 And, "The son shall not bear
the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father
bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of
the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness
of the wicked shall be upon him."89 If any shall
say that the response, "To children's children,
and to those who come after them," corresponds
with that passage, "Who visits the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate Me,"90 let him learn
from Ezekiel that this language is not to be taken
literally; for he reproves those who say, "Our
fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's
teeth are set on edge,"91 and then he adds, "As
I live, saith the Lord, every one shall die for his
own sin." As to the proper meaning of the figurative
language about sins being visited unto the third and
fourth generation, we cannot at present stay to explain.

Chapter XLI.

He then goes on to rail against us after the manner
of old wives. "You," says he, "mock
and revile the statues of our gods; but if you had
reviled Bacchus or Hercules in person, you would not
perhaps have done so with impunity. But those who crucified
your God when present among men, suffered nothing for
it, either at the time or during the whole of their
lives. And what new thing has there happened since
then to make us believe that he was not an impostor,
but the Son of God? And forsooth, he who sent his Son
with certain instructions for mankind, allowed him
to be thus cruelly treated, and his instructions to
perish with him, without ever during all this long
time showing the slightest concern. What father was
ever so inhuman? Perhaps, indeed, you may say that
he suffered so much, because it was his wish to bear
what came to him. But it is open to those whom you
maliciously revile, to adopt the same language, and
say that they wish to be reviled, and therefore they
bear it with patience; for it is best to deal equally
with both sides,-although these (gods) severely punish
the scorner, so that he must either flee and hide himself,
or be taken and perish." Now to these statements
I would answer that we revile no one, for we believe
that "revilers will not inherit the kingdom of
God."92 And we read, "Bless them that curse
you; bless, and curse not; "also, "Being
reviled, we bless." And even although the abuse
which we pour upon another may seem to have some excuse
in the wrong which we have received from him, yet such
abuse is not allowed by the word of God. And how much
more ought we to abstain from reviling others, when
we consider what a great folly it is! And it is equally
foolish to apply abusive language to stone or gold
or silver, turned into what is supposed to be the form
of God by those who have no knowledge of God. Accordingly,
we throw ridicule not upon lifeless images, but upon
those only who worship them. Moreover, if certain demons
reside in certain images, and one of them passes for
Bacchus, another for Hercules, we do not vilify them:
for, on the one hand, it would be useless; and, on
the other, it does not become one who is meek, and
peaceful, and gentle in spirit, and who has learnt
that no one among men or demons is to be reviled, however
wicked he may be.

Chapter XLII.

There is an inconsistency into which, strangely enough,
Celsus has fallen unawares. Those demons or gods whom
he extolled a little before, he now shows to be in
fact the vilest of creatures, punishing more for their
own revenge than for the improvement of those who revile
them. His words are, "If you had reviled Bacchus
or Hercules when present in person, you would not have
escaped with impunity." How any one can hear without
being present in person, I leave any one who will to
explain; as also those other questions, "Why he
is sometimes present, and sometimes absent? "and,
"What is the business which takes demons away
from place to place? "Again, when he says, "Those
who crucified your God himself, suffered no harm for
doing so," he supposes that it is the body of
Jesus extended on the cross and slain, and not His
divine nature, that we call God; and that it was as
God that Jesus was crucified and slain. As we have
already dwelt at length on the sufferings which Jesus
suffered as a man, we shall. purposely say no more
here, that we may not repeat what we have said already.
But when he goes on to say that "those who inflicted
death upon Jesus suffered nothing afterwards through
so long a time," we must inform him, as well as
all who are disposed to learn the truth, that the city
in which the Jewish people called for the crucifixion
of Jesus with shouts of" Crucify him, crucify
him,"93 preferring to have the robber set free,
who had been cast into prison for sedition and murder
and Jesus, who had been delivered through envy, to
be crucified,-that this city not long afterwards was
attacked, and, after a long siege, was utterly overthrown
and laid waste; for God judged the inhabitants of that
place unworthy of living together the life of citizens.
And yet, though it may seem an incredible thing to
say, God spared this people in delivering them to their
enemies; for He saw that they were incurably averse
to any amendment, and were daily sinking deeper and
deeper into evil. And all this befell them, because
the blood of Jesus was shed at their instigation and
on their land; and the land was no longer able to bear
those who were guilty of so fearful a crime against
Jesus.

Chapter XLIII.

Some new thing, then, has come to pass since the time
that Jesus suffered,-that, I mean, which has happened
to the city, to the whole nation, and in the sudden
and general rise of a Christian community. And that,
too, is a new thing, that those who were strangers
to the covenants of God, with no part in His promises,
and far from the truth, have by a divine power been
enabled to embrace the truth. These things were not
the work of an impostor, but were the work of God,
who sent His Word, Jesus Christ, to make known His
purposes.94 The sufferings and death which Jesus endured
with such fortitude and meekness, show the cruelty
and injustice of those who inflicted them, but they
did not destroy the announcement of the purposes of
God; indeed, if we may so say, they served rather to
make them known. For Jesus Himself taught us this when
He said, "Except a grain of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth by itself alone: but if
it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."95 Jesus,
then, who is this grain of wheat, died, and brought
forth much fruit. And the Father is ever looking forward
for the results of the death of the grain of wheat,
both those which are arising now, and those which shall
arise hereafter. The Father of Jesus is therefore a
tender and loving Father, though "He spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up" as His lamb
"for us all,"96 that so "the Lamb of
God," by dying for all men, might "take away
the sin of the world." It was not by compulsion,
therefore, but willingly, that He bore the reproaches
of those who reviled Him. Then Celsus, returning to
those who apply abusive language to images, says: "Of
those whom you load with insults, you may in like manner
say that they voluntarily submit to such treatment,
and therefore they bear insults with patience; for
it is best to deal equally with both sides. Yet these
severely punish the scorner, so that he must either
flee and hide himself, or be taken and perish."
It is not, then, because Christians cast insults upon
demons that they incur their revenge, but because they
drive them away out of the images, and from the bodies
and souls of men. And here, although Celsus perceives
it not, he has on this subject spoken something like
the truth; for it is true that the souls of those who
condemn Christians, and betray them, and rejoice in
persecuting them, are filled with wicked demons.

Chapter XLIV.

But when the souls of those who die for the Christian
faith depart from the body with great glory, they destroy
the power of the demons, and frustrate their designs
against men. Wherefore I imagine, that as the demons
have learnt from experience that they are defeated
and overpowered by the martyrs for the truth, they
are afraid to have recourse again to violence. And
thus, until they forget the defeats they have sustained,
it is probable that the world will be at peace with
the. Christians. But when they recover their power,
and, with eyes blinded by sin, wish again to take their
revenge on Christians, and persecute them, then again
they will be defeated, and then again the souls of
the godly, who lay down their lives for the cause of
godliness, shall utterly destroy the army of the wicked
one. And as the demons perceive that those who meet
death victoriously for the sake of religion destroy
their authority, while those who give way under their
sufferings, and deny the faith, come under their power,
I imagine that at times they feel a deep interest in
Christians when on their trial, and keenly strive to
gain them over to their side, feeling as they do that
their confession is torture to them, and their denial
is a relief and encouragement to them. And traces of
the same feeling may be seen in the demeanour of the
judges; for they are greatly distressed at seeing those
who bear outrage and torture with patience, but are
greatly elated when a Christian gives way under it.
Yet it is from no feeling of humanity that this arises.
They see well, that, while "the tongues"
of those who are overpowered by the tortures "may
take the oath, the mind has not sworn.",97 And
this may serve as an answer to the remark of Celsus:
"But they severely punish one who reviles them,
so that he must either flee and hide himself, or be
taken and perish." If a Christian ever flees away,
it is not from fear, but in obedience to the command
of his Master, that so he may preserve himself, and
employ his strength for the benefit of others.

Chapter XLV.

Let us see what Celsus next goes on to say. It is as
follows: "What need is there to collect all the
oracular responses, which have been delivered with
a divine voice by priests and priestesses, as wall
as by others, whether men or women, who were under
a divine influence?-all the wonderful things that have
been heard issuing from the inner sanctuary?-all the
revelations that have been made to those who consulted
the sacrificial victims?-and all the knowledge that
has been conveyed to men by other signs and prodigies?
To some the gods have appeared in visible forms. The
world is full of such instances. How many cities have
been built in obedience to commands received from oracles;
how often, in the same way, delivered from disease
and famine! Or again, how many cities, from disregard
or forgetfulness of these oracles, have perished miserably!
How many colonies have been established and made to
flourish by following their orders! How many princes
and private persons have, from this cause, had prosperity
or adversity! How many who mourned over their childlessness,
have obtained the blessing they asked for! How many
have turned away from themselves. the anger of demons!
How many who were maimed in their limbs, have had them
restored! And again, how many have met with summary
punishment for showing want of reverence to the temples-some
being instantly seized with madness, others openly
confessing their crimes, others having put an end to
their lives, and others having become the victims of
incurable maladies! Yea, some have been slain by a
terrible voice issuing from the inner sanctuary."
I know not how it comes that Celsus brings forward
these as undoubted facts, whilst at the same time he
treats as mere fables the wonders which are recorded
and handed down to us as having happened among the
Jews, or as having been performed by Jesus and His
disciples. For why may not our accounts be true, and
those of Celsus fables and fictions? At least, these
latter were not believed by the followers of Democritus,
Epicurus, and Aristotle, although perhaps these Grecian
sects would have been convinced by the evidence in
support of our miracles, if Moses or any of the prophets
who wrought these wonders, or Jesus Christ Himself,
had come in their way.

Chapter XLVI.

It is related of the priestess of Apollo, that she at
times allowed herself to be influenced in her answers
by bribes; but our prophets were admired for their
plain truthfulness, not only by their contemporaries,
but also by those who lived in later times. For through
the commands pronounced by the prophets cities were
founded, men were cured, and plagues were stayed. Indeed,
the whole Jewish race went out as a colony from Egypt
to Palestine, in accordance with the divine oracles.
They also, when they followed the commands of God,
were prosperous; when they departed from them, they
suffered reverses. What need is there to quote all
the princes and private persons in Scripture history
who fared well or ill according as they obeyed or despised
the words of the prophets? If we refer to those who
were unhappy because they were childless, but who,
after offering prayers to the Creator of all, became
fathers and mothers, let any one read the accounts
of Abraham and Sarah, to whom at an advanced age was
born Isaac, the father of the whole Jewish nation:
and there are other instances of the same thing. Let
him also read the account of Hezekiah, who not only
recovered from his sickness, according to the prediction
of Isaiah, but was also bold enough to say, "Afterwards
I shall beget children, who shall declare Thy righteousness."98
And in the fourth book of Kings we read that the prophet
Elisha made known to a woman who had received him hospitably,
that by the grace of God she should have a son; and
through the prayers of Elisha she became a mother.99
The maimed were cured by Jesus in great numbers. And
the books of the Maccabees relate what punishments
were inflicted upon those who dared to profane the
Jewish service in the temple at Jerusalem.

Chapter XLVII.

But the Greeks Will say that these accounts are fabulous,
although two whole nations are witnesses to their truth.
But why may we not consider the accounts of fife Greeks
as fabulous rather than those? Perhaps some one, however,
wishing not to appear blindly to accept his own statements
and reject those of others, would conclude, after a
close examination of the matter, that the wonders mentioned
by the Greeks were performed by certain demons; those
among the Jews by prophets or by angels, or by God
through the means of angels; and those recorded by
Christians by Jesus Himself, or by His power working
in His apostles. Let us, then, compare all these accounts
together; let us examine into the aim and purpose of
those who performed them; and let us inquire what effect
was produced upon the persons on whose account these
acts of kindness were performed, whether beneficial
or hurtful, or neither the one nor the other. The ancient
Jewish people, before they sinned against God, and
were for their great wickedness cast off by Him, must
evidently have been a people of great wisdom.100 But
Christians, who have in so wonderful a manner formed
themselves into a community, appear at first to have
been more induced by miracles than by exhortations
to forsake the institutions of their fathers, and to
adopt others which were quite strange to them. And
indeed, if we were to reason from what is probable
as to the first formation of the Christian society,
we should say that it is incredible that the apostles
of Jesus Christ, who were unlettered men of humble
life, could have been emboldened to preach Christian
truth to men by anything else than the power which
was conferred upon them, and the grace which accompanied
their words and rendered them effective; and those
who heard them would not have renounced the old-established
usages of their fathers, and been induced to adopt
notions so different from those in which they had been
brought up, unless they had been moved by some extraordinary
power, and by the force of miraculous events.

Chapter XLVIII.

In the next place, Celsus, after referring to the enthusiasm
with which men will contend unto death rather than
abjure Christianity, adds strangely enough some remarks,
in which he wishes to show that our doctrines are similar
to those delivered by the priests at the celebration
of the heathen mysteries. He says, "Just as you,
good sir, believe in eternal punishments, so also do
the priests who interpret and initiate into the sacred
mysteries. The same punishments with which you threaten
others, they threaten you. Now it is worthy of examination,
which of the two is more firmly established as true;
for both parties contend with equal assurance that
the truth is on their side. But if we require proofs,
the priests of the heathen gods produce many that are
clear and convincing, partly from wonders performed
by demons, and partly from the answers given by oracles,
and various other modes of divination." He would,
then, have us believe that we and the interpreters
of the mysteries equally teach the doctrine of eternal
punishment, and that it is a matter for inquiry on
which side of the two the truth lies. Now I should
say that the truth lies with those who are able to
induce their hearers to live as men who are convinced
of the truth of what they have heard. But Jews and
Christians have been thus affected by the doctrines
they hold about what we speak of as the world to come,
and the rewards of the righteous, and the punishments
of the wicked. Let Celsus then, or any one who will,
show us who have been moved in this way in regard to
eternal punishments by the teaching of heathen priests
and mystagogues. For surely the purpose of him who
brought to light this doctrine was not only to reason
upon the subject of punishments, and to strike men
with terror of them, but to induce those who heard
the truth to strive with all their might against those
sins which are the causes of punishment. And those
who study the prophecies with care, and are not content
with a cursory perusal of the predictions contained
in them, will find them such as to convince the intelligent
and sincere reader that the Spirit of God was in those
men, and that with their writings there is nothing
in all the works of demons, responses of oracles, or
sayings of soothsayers, for one moment to be compared.

Chapter XLIX.

Let us see in what terms Celsus next addresses us: "Besides,
is it not most absurd and inconsistent in you, on the
one hand, to make so much of the body as you do-to
expect that the same body will rise again, as though
it were the best and most precious part of us; and
yet, on the other, to expose it to such tortures as
though it were worthless? But men who hold such notions,
and are so attached to the body, are not worthy of
being reasoned with; for in this and in other respects
they show themselves to be gross, impure, and bent
upon revolting without any reason from the common belief.
But I shall direct my discourse to those who hope for
the enjoyment of eternal life with God by means of
the soul or mind, whether they choose to call it a
spiritual substance, an intelligent spirit, holy and
blessed, or a living soul, or the heavenly and indestructible
offspring of a divine and incorporeal nature, or by
whatever name they designate the spiritual nature of
man. And they are rightly persuaded that those who
live well shall be blessed, and the unrighteous shall
all suffer everlasting punishments. And from this doctrine
neither they nor any other should ever swerve."
Now, as he has often already reproached us for our
opinions on the resurrection, and as we have on these
occasions defended our opinions in what seemed to us
a reasonable way, we do not intend, at each repetition
of the one objection, to go into a repetition of our
defence. Celsus makes an unfounded charge against us
when he ascribes to us the opinion that "there
is nothing in our complex nature better or more precious
than the body; "for we hold that far beyond all
bodies is the soul, and especially the reasonable soul;
for it is the soul, and not the body, which bears the
likeness of the Creator. For, according to us, God
is not corporeal, unless we fall into the absurd errors
of the followers of Zeno and Chrysippus.

Chapter L.

But since he reproaches us with too great an anxiety
about the body, let him know that when that feeling
is a wrong one we do not share in it, and when it is
indifferent we only long for that which God has promised
to the righteous. But Celsus considers that we are
inconsistent with ourselves when we count the body
worthy of honour from God, and therefore hope for its
resurrection, and yet at the same time expose it to
tortures as though it were not worthy of honour. But
surely it is not without honour for the body to suffer
for the sake of godliness, and to choose afflictions
on account of virtue: the dishonourable thing would
be for it to waste its powers in vicious indulgence.
For the divine word says: "What is an honourable
seed? The seed of man. What is a dishonourable seed?
The seed of man."101 Moreover, Celsus thinks that
he ought not to reason with those who hope for the
good of the body, as they are unreasonably intent upon
an object which can never satisfy their expectations.
He also calls them gross and impure men, bent upon
creating needless dissensions. But surely he ought,
as one of superior humanity, to assist even the rude
and depraved. For society does not exclude from its
pale the coarse and uncultivated, as it does the irrational
animals, but our Creator made us on the same common
level with all mankind. It is not an undignified thing,
therefore, to reason even with the coarse and unrefined,
and to try to bring them as far as possible to a higher
state of refinement-to bring the impure to the highest
practicable degree of purity-to bring the unreasoning
multitude to reason, and the diseased in mind to spiritual
health.

Chapter LI

In the next place, he expresses his approval of those
who "hope that eternal life shall be enjoyed with
God by the soul or mind, or, as it is variously called,
the spiritual nature, the reasonable soul, intelligent,
holy, and blessed; "and he allows the soundness
of the doctrine, "that those who had a good life
shall be happy, and the unrighteous shall suffer eternal
punishments." And yet I wonder at what follows,
more than at anything that Celsus has ever said; for
he adds, "And from this doctrine let not them
or any one ever swerve." For certainly in writing
against Christians, the very essence of whose faith
is God, and the promises made by Christ to the righteous,
and His warnings of punishment awaiting the wicked,
he must see that, if a Christian were brought to renounce
Christianity by his arguments against it, it is beyond
doubt that, along with his Christian faith, he would
cast off the very doctrine from which he says that
no Christian and no man should ever swerve. But I think
Celsus has been far surpassed in consideration for
his fellow-men by Chrysippus in his treatise, On the
Subjugation of the Passions. For when he sought to
apply remedies to the affections and passions which
oppress and distract the human spirit, after employing
such arguments as seemed to himself to be strong, he
did not shrink from using in the second and third place
others which he did not himself approve of. "For,"
says he, "if it were held by any one that there
are three kinds of good, we must seek to regulate the
passions in accordance with that supposition; and we
must not too curiously inquire into the opinions held
by a person at the time that he is under the influence
of passion, lest, if we delay too long for the purpose
of overthrowing the opinions by which the mind is possessed,
the opportunity for curing the passion may pass away."
And he adds, "Thus, supposing that pleasure were
the highest good, or that he was of that opinion whose
mind was under the dominion of passion, we should not
the less give him help, and show that, even on the
principle that pleasure is the highest and final good
of man, all passion is disallowed." And Celsus,
in like manner, after having embraced the doctrine,
"that the righteous shall be blessed, and the
wicked shall suffer eternal punishments," should
have followed out his subject; and, after having advanced
what seemed to him the chief argument, he should have
proceeded to prove and enforce by further reasons the
truth that the unjust shall surely suffer eternal punishment,
and those who lead a good life shall be blessed.

Chapter LII.

For we who have been persuaded by many, yea by innumerable,
arguments to lead a Christian life, are especially
anxious to bring all men as far as possible to receive
the whole system of Christian truth; but when we meet
with persons who are prejudiced by the calumnies thrown
out against Christians, and who, from a notion that
Christians are an impious people, will not listen to
any who offer to instruct them in the principles of
the divine word, then, on the common principles of
humanity, we endeavour to the best of our ability to
convince them of the doctrine of the punishment of
the wicked, and to induce even those who are unwilling
to become Christians to accept that truth. And we are
thus anxious to persuade them of the rewards of right
living, when we see that many things which we teach
about a healthy moral life are also taught by the enemies
of our faith. For you will find that they have not
entirely lost the common notions of right and wrong,
of good and evil. Let all men, therefore, when they
look upon the universe, observe the constant revolution
of the unerring stars, the converse motion of the planets,
the constitution of the atmosphere, and its adaptation
to the necessities of the animals, and especially of
man, with all the innumerable contrivances for the
well-being of mankind; and then, after thus considering
the order of the universe, let them beware of doing
ought which is displeasing to the Creator of this universe,
of the soul and its intelligent principle; and let
them rest assured that punishment shall be inflicted
on the wicked, and rewards shall be bestowed upon the
righteous, by Him who deals with every one as he deserves,
and who will proportion His rewards to the good that
each has done, and to the account of himself that he
is able to give.102 And let all men know that the good
shall be advanced to a higher state, and that the wicked
shall be delivered over to sufferings and torments,
in punishment of their licentiousness and depravity,
their cowardice, timidity, and all their follies.

Chapter LIII.

Having said so much on this subject, let us proceed
to another statement of Celsus: "Since men are
born united to a body, whether to suit the order of
the universe, or that they may in that way suffer the
punishment of sin; or because the soul is oppressed
by certain passions until it is purged from these at
the appointed period of time,-for, according to Empedocles,
all mankind must be banished from the abodes of the
blessed for 30, 000 periods of time,-we must therefore
believe that they are entrusted to certain beings as
keepers of this prison-house." You will observe
that Celsus, in these remarks, speaks of such weighty
matters in the language of doubtful human conjecture.
He adds also various opinions as to the origin of man,
and shows considerable reluctance to set down any of
these opinions as false. When he had once come to the
conclusion neither indiscriminately to accept nor recklessly
to reject the opinions held by the ancients, would
it not have been in accordance with that same rule
of judging, if, when he found himself not disposed
to believe the doctrines taught by the Jewish prophets
and by Jesus, at any rate to have held them as matters
open to inquiry? And should he not have considered
whether it is very probable that a people who faithfully
served the Most High God, and who ofttimes encountered
numberless dangers, and even death, rather than sacrifice
the honour of God, and what they believed to be the
revelations of His will, should have been wholly overlooked
by God? Should it not rather be thought probable that
people who despised the efforts of human art to represent
the Divine Being, but strove rather to rise in thought
to the knowledge of the Most High, should have been
favoured with some revelation from Himself? Besides,
he ought to have considered that the common Father
and Creator of all, who sees and hears all things,
and who duly esteems the intention of every man who
seeks Him and desires to serve Him, will grant unto
these also some of the benefits of His rule, and will
give them an enlargement of that knowledge of Himself
which He has once bestowed upon them. If this had been
remembered by Celsus and the others who hate Moses
and the Jewish prophets, and Jesus, and His faithful
disciples, who endured so much for the sake of His
word, they would not thus have reviled Moses, and the
prophets, and Jesus, and His apostles; and they would
not have singled out for their contempt the Jews beyond
all the nations of the earth, and said they were worse
even than the Egyptians,-a people who, either from
superstition or some other form of delusion, went as
far as they could in degrading the Divine Being to
the level of brute beasts. And we invite inquiry, not
as though we wished to lead any to doubt regarding
the truths of Christianity, but in order to show that
it would be better for those who in every way revile
the doctrines of Christianity, at any rate to suspend
their judgment, and not so rashly to state about Jesus
and His apostles such things as they do not know, and
as they cannot prove, either by what the Stoics call"
apprehensive perception,"103 or by any other methods
used by different sects of philosophers as criteria
of truth.

Chapter LIV.

When Celsus adds, "We must therefore believe that
men are entrusted to certain beings who are the keepers
of this prison-house," our answer is, that the
souls of those who are called by Jeremiah "prisoners
of the earth,"104 when eager in the pursuit of
virtue, are even in this life delivered from the bondage
of evil; for Jesus declared this, as was foretold long
before His advent by the prophet Isaiah, when he said
that "the prisoners would go forth, and they that
were in darkness would show themselves."105 And
Jesus Himself, as Isaiah also foretold of Him, arose
as "a light to them that sat in darkness and in
the shadow of death,"106 so that we may therefore
say, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast
their cords from us."107 If Celsus, and those
who like him are opposed to us, had been able to sound
the depths of the Gospel narratives, they would not
have counselled us to put our confidence in those beings
whom they call "the keepers of the prison-house."
It is written in the Gospel that a woman was bowed
together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And
when Jesus beheld her, and perceived from what cause
she was bowed together, he said, "Ought not this
daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, these
eighteen years, to be loosed from this bond on the
Sabbath day? "108 And how many others are still
bowed down and bound by Satan, who hinders them from
looking up at all, and who would have us to look down
also! And no one can raise them up, except the Word,
that came by Jesus Christ, and that aforetime inspired
the prophets: And Jesus came to release those who were
under the dominion of the devil; and, speaking of him,
He said with that depth of meaning which characterized
His words, "Now is the prince of this world judged."
We are, then, indulging in no baseless calumnies against
demons, but are condemning their agency upon earth
as destructive to mankind, and show that, under cover
of oracles and bodily cures, and such other means,
they are seeking to separate from God the soul which
has descended to this "body of humiliation; "and
those who feel this humiliation exclaim, "0 wretched
man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of
this death? "109 It is not in vain, therefore,
that we expose our bodies to be beaten and tortured;
for surely it is not in vain for a man to submit to
such sufferings, if by that means he may avoid bestowing
the name of gods on those earthly spirits that unite
with their worshippers to bring him to destruction.
Indeed, we think it both reasonable in itself and well-pleasing
to God, to suffer pain for the sake of virtue, to undergo
torture for the sake of piety, and even to suffer death
for the sake of holiness; for "precious in the
sight of God is the death of His saints; "110
and we maintain that to overcome the love of life is
to enjoy a great good. But when Celsus compares us
to notorious criminals, who justly suffer punishment
for their crimes, and does not shrink from placing
so laudable a purpose as that which we set before us
upon the same level with the obstinacy of criminals,
he makes himself the brother and companion of those
who accounted Jesus among criminals, fulfilling the
Scripture, which saith, "He was numbered with
transgressors."111

Chapter LV.

Celsus goes on to say: "They must make their choice
between two alternatives. If they refuse to render
due service to the gods, and to respect those who are
set over this service, let them not come to manhood,
or marry wives, or have children, or indeed take any
share in the affairs of life; but let them depart hence
with all speed, and leave no posterity behind them,
that such a race may become extinct from the face of
the earth. Or, on the other hand, if they will take
wives, and bring up children, and taste of the fruits
of the earth, and partake of all the blessings of life,
and bear its appointed sorrows (for nature herself
hath allotted sorrows to all men; for sorrows must
exist, and earth is the only place for them), then
must they discharge the duties of life until they are
released from its bonds, and render due honour to those
beings who control the affairs of this life, if they
would not show themselves ungrateful to them. For it
would be unjust in them, after receiving the good things
which they dispense, to pay them no tribute in return."
To this we reply, that there appears to us to be no
good reason for our leaving this world, except when
piety and virtue require it; as when, for example,
those who are set as judges, and think that they have
power over our lives, place before us the alternative
either to live in violation of the commands of Jesus,
or to die if we continue obedient to them. But God
has allowed us to marry, because all are not fit for
the higher, that is, the perfectly pure life; and God
would have us to bring up all our children, and not
to destroy any of the offspring given us by His providence.
And this does not conflict with our purpose not to
obey the demons that are on the earth; for, "being
armed with the whole armour of God, we stand"112
as athletes of piety against the race of demons that
plot against us.

Chapter LVI.

Although, therefore, Celsus would, in his own words,
"drive us with all haste out of life," so
that "such a race may become extinct from the
earth; "yet we, along with those who worship the
Creator, will live according to the laws of God, never
consenting to obey the laws of sin. We will marry if
we wish, and bring up the children given to us in marriage;
and if need be, we will not only partake of the blessings
of life, but bear its appointed sorrows as a trial
to our souls. For in this way is divine Scripture accustomed
to speak of human afflictions, by which, as gold is
tried in the fire, so the spirit of man is tried, and
is found to be worthy either of condemnation or of
praise. For those things which Celsus calls evils we
are therefore prepared, and are ready to say, "Try
me, O Lord, and prove me; purge my reins and my heart."113
For "no one will be crowned," unless here
upon earth, with this body of humiliation, "he
strive lawfully."114 Further, we do not pay honours
supposed to be due to those whom Celsus speaks of as
being set over the affairs of the world. For we worship
the Lord our God, and Him only do we serve, and desire
to be followers of Christ, who, when the devil said
to Him, "All these things will I give thee if
thou wilt fall down and worship me," answered
him by the words, "Thou shall worship the Lord
thy God, and Him only shall thou serve."115 Wherefore
we do not render the honour supposed to be due to those
who. according to Celsus, are set over the affairs
of this world; for "no man can serve two masters,"
and we "cannot serve God and mammon," whether
this name be applied to one or more. Moreover, if any
one "by transgressing the law dishonours the lawgiver,"
it seems clear to us that if the two laws, the law
of God and the law of mammon, are completely opposed
to each other, it is better for us by transgressing
the law of mammon to dishonour mammon, that we may
honour God by keeping His law, than by transgressing
the law of God to dishonour God, that by obeying the
law of mammon we may honour mammon.

Chapter LVII.

Celsus supposes that men "discharge the duties
of life until they are loosened from its bonds,"
when, in accordance with commonly received customs,
they offer sacrifices to each of the gods recognised
in the state; and he fails to perceive the true duty
which is fulfilled by an earnest piety. For we say
that he truly discharges the duties of life who is
ever mindful who is his Creator, and what things are
agreeable to Him, and who acts in all things so that
he may please God. Again, Celsus wishes us to be thankful
to these demons, imagining that we owe them thank-offerings.
But we, while recognising the duty of thankfulness,
maintain that we show no ingratitude by refusing to
give thanks to beings who do us no good, but who rather
set themselves against us when we neither sacrifice
to them nor worship them. We are much more concerned
lest we should be ungrateful to God, who has loaded
us with His benefits, whose workmanship we are, who
cares for us in whatever condition we may be, and who
has given us hopes of things beyond this present life.
And we have a symbol of gratitude to God in the bread
which we call the Eucharist. Besides, as we have shown
before, the demons have not the control of those things
which have been created for our use; we commit no wrong,
therefore, when we partake of created things, and yet
refuse to offer sacrifices to beings who have no concern
with them. Moreover, as we know that it is not demons,
but angels, who have been set over the fruits of the
earth, and over the birth of animals, it is the latter
that we praise and bless, as having been appointed
by God over the things needful for our race; yet even
to them we will not give the honour which is due to
God. For this would not be pleasing to God, nor would
it be any pleasure to the angels themselves to whom
these things have been committed. Indeed, they are
much more pleased if we refrain from offering sacrifices
to them than if we offer them; for they have no desire
for the sacrificial odours which rise from the earth.

Chapter LVIII.

Celsus goes on to say: "Let any one inquire of
the Egyptians, and he will find that everything, even
to the most insignificant, is committed to the care
of a certain demon. The body of man is divided into
thirty-six parts, and as many demons of the air are
appointed to the care of it, each having charge of
a different part, although others make the number much
larger. All these demons have in the language of that
country distinct names; as Chnoumen, Chnachoumen, Cnat,
Sicat, Biou, Erou, Erebiou, Ramanor, Reianoor, and
other such Egyptian names. Moreover, they call upon
them, and are cured of diseases of particular parts
of the body. What, then, is there to prevent a man
from giving honour to these or to others, if he would
rather be in health than be sick, rather have prosperity
than adversity, and be freed as much as possible from
all plagues and troubles? "In this way, Celsus
seeks to degrade our souls to the worship of demons,
under the assumption that they have possession of our
bodies, and that each one has power over a separate
member. And he wishes us on this ground to put confidence
in these demons of which he speaks, and to serve them,
in order that we may be in health rather than be sick,
have prosperity rather than adversity, and may as far
as possible escape all plagues and troubles. The honour
of the Most High God, which cannot be divided or shared
with another, is so lightly esteemed by him, that he
cannot believe in the ability of God, if called upon
and highly honoured, to give to those who serve Him
a power by which they may be defended from the assaults
directed by demons against the righteous. For he has
never beheld the efficacy of those words, "in
the name of Jesus," when uttered by the truly
faithful, to deliver not a few from demons and demoniacal
possessions and other plagues.

Chapter LIX.

Probably those who embrace the views of Celsus will
smile at us when we say, "At the name of Jesus
every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, of things
on earth, and of things under the earth, and every
tongue" is brought to "confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."116
But although they may ridicule such a statement, yet
they will receive much more convincing arguments in
support of it than Celsus brings in behalf of Chnoumen,
Chnachoumen, Cnat, Sicat, and the rest of the Egyptian
catalogue, whom he mentions as being called upon, and
as healing the diseases of different pans of the human
body. And observe how, while seeking to turn us away
from our faith in the God of all through Jesus Christ,
he exhorts us for the welfare of our bodies to faith
in six-and-thirty barbarous demons, whom the Egyptian
magi alone call upon in some unknown way, and promise
us in return great benefits. According to Celsus, then,
it would be better for us now to give ourselves up
to magic and sorcery than to embrace Christianity,
and to put our faith in an innumerable multitude of
demons than in the almighty, living, self-revealing
God, who has manifested Himself by Him who by His great
power has spread the true principles of holiness among
all men throughout the world; yea, I may add without
exaggeration, He has given this knowledge to all beings
everywhere possessed of reason, and needing deliverance
from the plague and corruption of sin.

Chapter LX.

Celsus, however, suspecting that the tendency of such
teaching as he here gives is to lead to magic, and
dreading that harm may arise from these statements,
adds: "Care, however, must be taken lest any one,
by familiarizing his mind with these matters, should
become too much engrossed with them, and lest, through
an excessive regard for the body, he should have his
mind turned away from higher things, and allow them
to pass into oblivion. For perhaps we ought not to
despise the opinion of those wise men who say that
most of the earth-demons are taken up with carnal indulgence,
blood, odours, sweet sounds, and other such sensual
things; and therefore they are unable to do more than
heal the body, or foretell the fortunes of men and
cities, and do other such things as relate to this
mortal life." If there is, then, such a dangerous
tendency in this direction, as even the enemy of the
truth of God confesses, how much better is it to avoid
all danger of giving ourselves too much up to the power
of such demons, and of becoming turned aside from higher
things, and suffering them to pass into oblivion through
an excessive attention to the body; by entrusting ourselves
to the Supreme God through Jesus Christ, who has given
us such instruction, and asking of Him all help, and
the guardianship of holy and good angels, to defend
us from the earth-spirits intent on lust, and blood,
and sacrificial odours,117 and strange sounds, and
other sensual things! For even, by the confession of
Celsus, they can do nothing more than cure the body.
But, indeed, I would say that it is not clear that
these demons, however much they are reverenced, can
even cure the body. But in seeking recovery from disease,
a man must either follow the inure ordinary and simple
method, and have recourse to medical art; or if he
would go beyond the common methods adopted by men,
he must rise to the higher and better way of seeking
the blessing of Him who is God over all, through piety
and prayers.

Chapter LXI.

For consider with yourself which disposition of mind
will be more acceptable to the Most High, whose power
is supreme and universal, and who directs all for the
welfare of mankind in body, and in mind, and in outward
things,-whether that of the man who gives himself up
to God in all things, or that of the man who is curiously
inquisitive about the names of demons, their powers
and agency, the incantations, the herbs proper to them,
and the stones with the inscriptions graven on them,
corresponding symbolically or otherwise to their traditional
shapes? It is plain even to the least intelligent,
that the disposition of the man who is simpleminded
and not given to curious inquiries, but in all things
devoted to the divine will, will be most pleasing to
God, and to all those who are like God; but that of
the man who, for the sake of bodily health, of bodily
enjoyment, and outward prosperity, busies himself about
the names of demons, and inquires by what incantations
he shall appease them, will be condemned by God as
bad and impious, and more agreeable to the nature of
demons than of men, and will be given over to be torn
and otherwise tormented by demons. For it is probable
that they, as being wicked creatures, and, as Celsus
confesses, addicted to blood, sacrificial odours, sweet
sounds, and such like, will not keep their most solemn
promises to those who supply them with these things.
For if others invoke their aid against the persons
who have already called upon them, and purchase their
favour with a larger supply of blood, and odours, and
such offerings as they require, they will take part
against those who yesterday sacrificed and presented
pleasant offerings to them.

Chapter LXII.

In a former passage, Celsus had spoken at length on
the subject of oracles, and had referred us to their
answers as being the voice of the gods; but now he
makes amends, and confesses that "those who foretell
the fortunes of men and cities, and concern themselves
about mortal affairs, are earth-spirits, who are given
up to fleshly lust, blood, odours, sweet sounds, and
other such things, and who are unable to rise above
these sensual objects." Perhaps, when we opposed
the theological teaching of Celsus in regard to oracles,
and the honour done to those called gods, some one
might suspect us of impiety when we alleged that these
were stratagems of demoniacal powers, to draw men away
to carnal indulgence. But any who entertained this
suspicion against us, may now believe that the statements
put forth by Christians were well-founded, when they
see the above passage from the writings of one who
is a professed adversary of Christianity, but who now
at length writes as one who has been overcome by the
spirit of truth. Although, therefore, Celsus says that
"we must offer sacrifices to them, in so far as
they are profitable to us, for to offer them indiscriminately
is not allowed by reason," yet we are not to offer
sacrifices to demons addicted to blood and odours;
nor is the Divine Being to be profaned in our minds,
by being brought down to the level of wicked demons.
If Celsus had carefully weighed the meaning of the
word "profitable," and had considered that
the tritest profit lies in virtue and in virtuous action,
he would not have applied the phrase "as far as
it is profitable" to the service of such demons,
as he has acknowledged them to be. If, then, health
of body and success in life were to come to us on condition
of our serving such demons, we should prefer sickness
and misfortune accompanied with the consciousness of
our being truly devoted to the will of God. For this
is preferable to being mortally diseased in mind, and
wretched through being separate and outcasts from God,
though healthy in body and abounding in earthly prosperity.
And we would rather go for help to one who seeks nothing
whatever but the well-being of men and of all rational
creatures, than to those who delight in blood and sacrificial
odours.

Chapter LXIII.

After having said so much of the demons, and of their
fondness for blood and the odour of sacrifices, Celsus
adds, as though wishing to retract the charge he had
made: "The more just opinion is, that demons desire
nothing and need nothing, but that they take pleasure
in those who discharge towards them offices of piety."
If Celsus believed this to be true, he should have
said so, instead of making his previous statements.
But, indeed, human nature is never utterly forsaken
by God and His only-begotten Son, the Truth. Wherefore
even Celsus spoke the truth when he made the demons
take pleasure in the blood and smoke of victims; although,
by the force of his own evil nature, he falls back
into his errors, and compares demons with men who rigorously
discharge every duty, even to those who show no gratitude;
while to those who are grateful they abound in acts
of kindness. Here Celsus appears to me to get into
confusion. At one time his judgment is darkened by
the influence of demons, and at another he recovers
from their deluding power, and gets some glimpses of
the truth. For again he adds: "We must never in
any way lose our hold of God, whether by day or by
night, whether in public or in secret, whether in word
or in deed, but in whatever we do, or abstain from
doing." That is, as I understand it, whatever
we do in public, in all our actions, in all our words,
"let the soul be constantly fixed upon God."
And yet again, as though, after struggling in argument
against the insane inspirations of demons, he were
completely overcome by them, he adds: "If this
is the case, what harm is there in gaining the favour
of the rulers of the earth, whether of a nature different
from ours, or human princes and kings? For these have
gained their dignity through the instrumentality of
demons." In a former part, Celsus did his utmost
to debase our souls to the worship of demons; and now
he wishes us to seek the favour of kings and princes,
of whom, as the world and all history are full of them.
I do not consider it necessary to quote examples.

Chapter LXIV.

There is therefore One whose favour we should seek,
and to whom we ought to pray that He would be gracious
to us-the Most High God, whose favour is gained by
piety and the practice of every virtue. And if he would
have us to seek the favour of others after the Most
High God, let him consider that, as the motion of the
shadow follows that of the body which casts it, so
in like manner it follows, that when we have the favour
of God, we have also the good-will of all angels and
spirits who are friends of God. For they know who are
worthy of the divine approval, and they are not only
well disposed to them, but they co-operate with them
in their endeavours to please God: they seek His favour
on their behalf; with their prayers they join their
own prayers and intercessions for them. We may indeed
boldly say, that men who aspire after better things
have, when they pray to God, tens of thousands of sacred
powers upon their side. These, even when not asked,
pray with them, they bring succour to our mortal race,
and if I may so say, take up arms alongside of it:
for they see demons warring and fighting most keenly
against the salvation of those who devote themselves
to God, and despise the hostility of demons; they see
them savage in their hatred of the man who refuses
to serve them with the blood and fumes of sacrifices,
but rather strives in every way, by word and deed,
to be in peace and union with the Most High through
Jesus, who put to flight multitudes of demons when
He went about "heating," and delivering "all
who were oppressed by the devil."118

Chapter LXV.

Moreover, we are to despise ingratiating ourselves with
kings or any other men, not only if their favour is
to be won by murders, licentiousness, or deeds of cruelty,
but even if it involves impiety towards God, or any
servile expressions of flattery and obsequiousness,
which things are unworthy of brave and high-principled
men, who aim at joining with their other virtues that
highest of virtues, patience and fortitude. But whilst
we do nothing which is contrary to the law and word
of God, we are not so mad as to 'stir up against us
the wrath of kings and princes, which will bring upon
us sufferings and tortures, or even death. For we read:
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.
For there is no power but of God: the powers that be
are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God."119
These words we have in our exposition of the Epistle
to the Romans, to the best of our ability, explained
at length, and with various applications; but for the
present we have taken them in their more obvious and
generally received acceptation, to meet the saying
of Celsus, that "it is not without the power of
demons that kings have been raised to their regal dignity."
Here much might be said on the constitution of kings
and rulers, for the subject is a wide one, embracing
such rulers as reign cruelly and tyrannically, and
such as make the kingly office the means of indulging
in luxury and sinful pleasures. We shall therefore,
for the present, passover the full consideration of
this subject. We will, however, never swear by "the
fortune of the king," nor by ought else that is
considered equivalent to God. For if the word "fortune"
is nothing but an expression for the uncertain course
of events, as some say, although they seem not to be
agreed, we do not swear by that as God which has no
existence, as though it did really exist and was able
to do something, lest we should bind ourselves by an
oath to things which have no existence. If, on the
other hand (as is thought by others, who say that to
swear by the fortune of the king of the Romans is to
swear by his demon), what is called the fortune of
the king is in the power of demons, then in that case
we must die sooner than swear by a wicked and treacherous
demon, that ofttimes sins along with the man of whom
it gains possession, and sins even more than he.

Chapter LXVI.

Then Celsus, following the example of those who are
under the influence of demons-at one time recovering,
at another relapsing, as though he were again becoming
sensible-says: "If, however, any worshipper of
God should be ordered to do anything impious, or to
say anything base, such a command should in no wise
be regarded; but we must encounter all kinds of torment,
or submit to any kind of death, rather than say or
even think anything unworthy of God." Again, however,
from ignorance of our principles, and in entire confusion
of thought, he says: "But if any one commands
you to celebrate the sun, or to sing a joyful triumphal
song in praise of Minerva, you will by celebrating
their praises seem to render the higher praise to God;
for piety, in extending to all things, becomes more
perfect." To this our answer is, that we do not
wait for any command to celebrate the praises of the
sun; for we have been taught to speak well not only
of those creatures that are obedient to the will of
God, but even of our enemies. We therefore praise the
sun as the glorious workmanship of God, which obeys
His laws and hearkens to the call, "Praise the
Lord, sun and moon,"120 and with all your powers
show forth the praises of the Father and Creator of
all. Minerva, however, whom Celsus classes with the
sun, is the subject of various Grecian myths, whether
these contain any hidden meaning or not. They say that
Minerva sprang fully armed from the brain of Jupiter;
that when she was pursued by Vulcan, she fled from
him to preserve her honour; and that from the seed
which fell to the ground in the heat of Vulcan's passion,
there grew a child whom Minerva brought up and called
Erichthonius,

"That owed his nurture to the blue-eyed
maid,

But from the teeming furrow took his birth,

The mighty offspring of the foodful earth."121

It is therefore evident, that if we admit Minerva the
daughter of Jupiter, we must also admit many fables
and fictions which can be allowed by no one who discards
fables and seeks after truth.

Chapter LXVII.

And to regard these myths in a figurative sense, and
consider Minerva as representing prudence, let any
one show what were the actual facts of her history,
upon which this allegory is based. For, supposing honour
was given to Minerva as having been a woman of ancient
times, by those who instituted mysteries and ceremonies
for their followers, and who wished her name to be
celebrated as that of a goddess, much more are we forbidden
to pay divine honours to Minerva, if we are not permitted
to worship so glorious an object as the sun, although
we may celebrate its glory. Celsus, indeed, says that
"we seem to do the greater honour to the great
God when we sing hymns in honour of the sun and Minerva;
"but we know it to be the opposite of that. For
we sing hymns to the Most High alone, and His Only-begotten,
who is the Word and God; and we praise God and His
Only-begotten, as do also the sun, the moon, the stars,
and all the host of heaven.122 For these all form a
divine chorus, and unite with the just among men in
celebrating the praises of the Most High God and His
Only-begotten. We have already said that we must not
swear by a human king, or by what is called "the
fortune of the king." It is therefore unnecessary
for us again to refute these statements: "If you
are commanded to swear by a human king, there is nothing
wrong in that. For to him has been given whatever there
is upon earth; and whatever you receive in this life,
you receive from him." We deny, however, that
all things which are on the earth have been given to
the king, or that whatever we receive in this life
we receive from him. For whatever we receive rightly
and honourably we receive from God, and by His providence,
as ripe fruits, and "corn which strengtheneth
man's heart, and the pleasant vine, and wine which
rejoiceth the heart of man."123 And moreover,
the fruit of the olive-tree, to make his face to shine,
we have from the providence of God.

Chapter LXVIII.

Celsus goes on to say: "We must not disobey the
ancient writer, who said long ago, `Let one be king,
whom the son of crafty Saturn appointed; '"124
and adds: "If you set aside this maxim, you will
deservedly suffer for it at the hands of the king.
For if all were to do the same as you, there would
be nothing to prevent his being left in utter solitude
and desertion, and the affairs of the earth would fall
into the hands of the wildest and most lawless barbarians;
and then there would no longer remain among men any
of the glory of your religion or of the true wisdom."
If, then, "there shall be one lord, one king,"
he must be, not the man "whom the son of crafty
Saturn appointed," but the man to whom He gave
the power, who "removeth kings and setteth up
kings,"125 and who "raiseth up the useful
man in time of need upon earth."126 For kings
are not appointed by that son of Saturn, who, according
to Grecian fable, hurled his father from his throne,
and sent him down to Tartarus (whatever interpretation
may be given to this allegory), but by God, who governs
all things, and who wisely arranges whatever belongs
to the appointment of kings. We therefore do set aside
the maxim contained in the line,

"Whom the son of crafty Saturn appointed; "

for we know that no god or father of a god ever devises
anything crooked or crafty. But we are far from setting
aside the notion of a providence, and of things happening
directly or indirectly through the agency of providence.
And the king will not "inflict deserved punishment"
upon us, if we say that not the son of crafty Saturn
gave him his kingdom, but He who "removeth and
setteth up kings." And would that all were to
follow my example in rejecting the maxim of Homer,
maintaining the divine origin of the kingdom, and observing
the precept to honour the king! In these circumstances
the king will not "be left in utter solitude and
desertion," neither will "the affairs of
the world fall into the hands of the most impious and
wild barbarians." For if, in the words of Celsus,"
they do as I do," then it is evident that even
the barbarians, when they yield obedience to the word
of God, will become most obedient to the law, and most
humane; and every form of worship will be destroyed
except the religion of Christ, which will alone prevail.
And indeed it will one day triumph, as its principles
take possession of the minds of men more and more every
day.

Chapter LXIX.

Celsus, then, as if not observing that he was saying
anything inconsistent with the words he had just used,
"if all were to do the same as you," adds:
"You surely do not say that if the Romans were,
in compliance with your wish, to neglect their customary
duties to gods and men, and were to worship the Most
High, or whatever you please to call him, that he will
come down and fight for them, so that they shall need
no other help than his. For this same God, as yourselves
say, promised of old this and much more to those who
served him, and see in what way he has helped them
and you! They, in place of being masters of the whole
world, are left with not so much as a patch of ground
or a home; and as for you, if any of you transgresses
even in secret, he is sought out and punished with
death." As the question started is, "What
would happen if the Romans were persuaded to adopt
the principles of the Christians, to despise the duties
paid to the recognised gods and to men, and to worship
the Most High? "this is my answer to the question.
We say that "if two" of us "shall agree
on earth as touching anything that they shall ask,
it shall be done for them of the Father" of the
just, "which is in heaven; "127 for God rejoices
in the agreement of rational beings, and turns away
from discord. And what are we to expect, if not only
a very few agree, as at present, but the whole of the
empire of Rome? For they will pray to the Word, who
of old said to the Hebrews, when they were pursued
by the Egyptians, "The Lord shall fight for you,
and ye shall hold your peace; "128 and if they
all unite in prayer with one accord, they will be able
to put to flight far more enemies than those who were
discomfited by the prayer of Moses when he cried to
the Lord, and of those who prayed with him. Now, if
what God promised to those who keep His law has not
come to pass, the reason of its nonfulfilment is not
to be ascribed to the unfaithfulness of God. But He
had made the fulfilment of His promises to depend on
certain conditions,-namely, that they should observe
and live according to His law; and if the Jews bare
not a plot of ground nor a habitation left to them,
although they had received these conditional promises,
the entire blame is to be laid upon their crimes, and
especially upon their guilt in the treatment of Jesus.

Chapter LXX.

But if all the Romans, according to the supposition
of Celsus, embrace the Christian faith, they will,
when they pray, overcome their enemies; or rather,
they will not war at all, being guarded by that divine
power which promised to save five entire cities for
the sake of fifty just persons. For men of God are
assuredly the salt of the earth: they preserve the
order of the world;129 and society is held together
as long as the salt is uncorrupted: for "if the
salt have lost its savour, it is neither fit for the
land nor for the dunghill; but it shall be cast out,
and trodden under foot of men. He that hath ears, let
him hear"130 the meaning of these words, When
God gives to the tempter permission to persecute us,
then we suffer persecution; and when God wishes us
to be free from suffering, even in the midst of a world
that hates us, we enjoy a wonderful peace, trusting
in the protection of Him who said, "Be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world."131 And truly
He has overcome the world. Wherefore the world prevails
only so long as it is the pleasure of Him who received
from the Father power to overcome the world; and from
His victory we take courage. Should He even wish us
again to contend and struggle for our religion, let
the enemy come against us, and we will say to them,
"I can do all things, through Christ Jesus our
Lord, which strengtheneth me."132 For of "two
sparrows which are sold for a farthing," as the
Scripture says, "not one of them falls on the
ground without our Father in heaven."133 And so
completely does the Divine Providence embrace all things,
that not even the hairs of our head fail to be numbered
by Him.

Chapter LXXI.

Celsus again, as is usual with him, gets confused, and
attributes to us things which none of us have ever
written. His words are: "Surely it is intolerable
for you to say, that if our present rulers, on embracing
your opinions, are taken by the enemy, you will still
be able to persuade those who rule after them; and
after these have been taken you will persuade their
successors and so on, until at length, when all who
have yielded to your persuasion have been taken some
prudent ruler shall arise, with a foresight of what
is impending, and he will destroy you all utterly before
he himself perishes." There is no need of any
answer to these allegations: for none of us says of
our present rulers, that if they embrace our opinions,
and are taken by the enemy, we shall be able to persuade
their successors; and when these are taken, those who
come after them, and so on in succession. But on what
does he ground the assertion, that when a succession
of those who have yielded to our persuasion have been
taken because they did not drive back the enemy, some
prudent ruler shall arise, with a foresight of what
is impending, who shall utterly destroy us? But here
he seems to me to delight in inventing and uttering
the wildest nonsense.

Chapter LXXII.

Afterwards he says: "If it were possible,"
implying at the same time that he thought it most desirable,
"that all the inhabitants of Asia, Europe, and
Libya, Greeks and Barbarians, all to the uttermost
ends of the earth, were to come under one law; "but
judging this quite impossible, he adds, "Any one
who thinks this possible, knows nothing." It would
require careful consideration and lengthened argument
to prove that it is not only possible, but that it
will surely come to pass, that all who are endowed
with reason shall come under one law. However, if we
must refer to this subject, it will be with great brevity.
The Stoics, indeed, hold that, when the strongest of
the elements prevails, all things shall be turned into
fire. But our belief is, that the Word shall prevail
over the entire rational creation, and change every
soul into His own perfection; in which state every
one, by the mere exercise of his power, will choose
what he desires, and obtain what he chooses. For although,
in the diseases and wounds of the body, there are some
which no medical skill can cure, yet we hold that in
the mind there is no evil so strong that it may not
be overcome by the Supreme Word and God. For stronger
than all the evils in the soul is the Word, and the
healing power that dwells in Him; and this healing
He applies, according to the will of God, to every
man. The consummation of all things is the destruction
of evil, although as to the question whether it shall
be so destroyed that it can never anywhere arise again,
it is beyond our present purpose to say. Many things
are said obscurely in the prophecies on the total destruction
of evil, and the restoration to righteousness of every
soul; but it will be enough for our present purpose
to quote the following passage from Zephaniah: "Prepare
and rise early; all the gleanings of their vineyards
are destroyed. Therefore wait ye upon Me, saith the
Lord, on the day that I rise up for a testimony; for
My determination is to gather the nations, that I may
assemble the kings, to pour upon them Mine indignation,
even all My fierce anger: for all the earth shall be
devoured with the fire of My jealousy. For then will
I turn to the people a pure language, that they may
all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with
one consent. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My
suppliants, even the daughter of My dispersed, shall
bring My offering. In that day shalt thou not be ashamed
for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed
against Me: for then I will take away out of the midst
of thee them that rejoice in thy pride; and thou shalt
no more be haughty because of My holy mountain. I will
also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor
people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak
lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in
their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and
none shall make them afraid."134 I leave it to
those who are able, after a careful study of the whole
subject, to unfold the meaning of this prophecy, and
especially to inquire into the signification of the
words, "When the whole earth is destroyed, there
will be turned upon the peoples a language according
to their race,"135 as things were before the confusion
of tongues. Let them also carefully consider the promise,
that all shall call upon the name of the Lord, and
serve Him with one consent; also that all contemptuous
reproach shall be taken away, and there shall be no
longer any injustice, or vain speech, or a deceitful
tongue. And thus much it seemed needful for me to say
briefly, and without entering into elaborate details,
in answer to the remark of Celsus, that he considered
any agreement between the inhabitants of Asia, Europe,
and Libya, as well Greeks as Barbarians, was impossible.
And perhaps such a result would indeed be impossible
to those who are still in the body, but not to those
who are released from it.

Chapter LXXIII.

In the next place, Celsus urges us "to help the
king with all our might, and to labour with him in
the maintenance of justice, to fight for him; and if
he requires it, to fight under him, or lead an army
along with him." To this our answer is, that we
do, when occasion requires, give help to kings, and
that, so to say, a divine help, "putting on the
whole armour of God."136 And this we do in obedience
to the injunction of the apostle, "I exhort, therefore,
that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings,
and for all that are in authority; "137 and the
more any one excels in piety, the more effective help
does he render to kings, even more than is given by
soldiers, who go forth to fight and slay as many of
the enemy as they can. And to those enemies of our
faith who require us to bear arms for the commonwealth,
and to slay men, we can reply: "Do not those who
are priests at certain shrines, and those who attend
on certain gods, as you account them, keep their hands
free from blood, that they may with hands unstained
and free from human blood offer the appointed sacrifices
to your gods; and even when war is upon you, you never
enlist the priests in the army. If that, then, is a
laudable custom, how much more so, that while others
are engaged in battle, these too should engage as the
priests and ministers of God, keeping their hands pure,
and wrestling in prayers to God on behalf of those
who are fighting in a righteous cause, and for the
king who reigns righteously, that whatever is opposed
to those who act righteously may be destroyed!"
And as we by our prayers vanquish all demons who stir
up war, and lead to the violation of oaths, and disturb
the peace, we in this way are much more helpful to
the kings than those who go into the field to fight
for them. And we do take our part in public affairs,
when along with righteous prayers we join self-denying
exercises and meditations, which teach us to despise
pleasures, and not to be led away by them. And none
fight better for the king than we do. We do not indeed
fight under him, although he require it; but we fight
on his behalf, forming a special army-an army of piety-by
offering our prayers to God.

Chapter LXXIV.

And if Celsus would have us to lead armies in defence
of our country, let him know that we do this too, and
that not for the purpose of being seen by men, or of
vainglory. For "in secret," and in our own
hearts, there are prayers which ascend as from priests
in behalf of our fellow-citizens. And Christians are
benefactors of their country more than others. For
they train up citizens, and inculcate piety to the
Supreme Being; and they promote those whose lives in
the smallest cities have been good and worthy, to a
divine and heavenly city, to whom it may be said, "Thou
hast been faithful in the smallest city, come into
a great one,"138 where "God standeth in the
assembly of the gods, and judgeth the gods in the midst;
"and He reckons thee among them, if thou no more
"die as a man, or fall as one of the princes."139

Chapter LXXV.

Celsus also urges us to "take office in the government
of the country, if that is required for the maintenance
of the laws and the support of religion." But
we recognise in each state the existence of another
national organization founded by the Word of God, and
we exhort those who are mighty in word and of blameless
life to rule over Churches. Those who are ambitious
of ruling we reject; but we constrain those who, through
excess of modesty, are not easily induced to take a
public charge in the Church of God. And those who rule
over us well are under the constraining influence of
the great King, whom we believe to be the Son of God,
God the Word. And if those who govern in the Church,
and are called rulers of the divine nation-that is,
the Church-rule well, they rule in accordance with
the divine commands, and never suffer themselves to
be led astray by worldly policy. And it is not for
the purpose of escaping public duties that Christians
decline public offices, but that they may reserve themselves
for a diviner and more necessary service in the Church
of God-for the salvation of men. And this service is
at once necessary and right. They take charge of all-of
those that are within, that they may day by day lead
better lives, and of those that are without, that they
may come to abound in holy words and in deeds of piety;
and that, while thus worshipping God truly, and training
up as many as they can in the same way, they may be
filled with the word of God and the law of God, and
thus be united with the Supreme God through His Son
the Word, Wisdom, Truth, and Righteousness, who unites
to God all who are resolved to conform their lives
in all things to the law of God.

Chapter LXXVI.

You have here, reverend Ambrosius, the conclusion of
what we have been enabled to accomplish by the power
given to us in obedience to your command. In eight
books we have embraced all that we considered it proper
to say in reply to that book of Celsus which he entitles
A True Discourse. And now it remains for the readers
of his discourse and of my reply to judge which of
the two breathes most of the Spirit of the true God,
of piety towards Him, and of that truth which leads
men by sound doctrines to the noblest life. You must
know, however, that Celsus had promised another treatise
as a sequel to this one, in which he engaged to supply
practical rules of living to those who felt disposed
to embrace his opinions. If, then, he has not fulfilled
his promise of writing a second book, we may well be
contented with these eight books which we have written
in answer to his discourse. But if he has begun and
finished that second book, pray obtain it and send
it to us, that we may answer it as the Father of truth
may give us ability, and either overthrow the false
teaching that may be in it, or, laying aside all jealousy,
we may testify our approval of whatever truth it may
contain.Glory Be to Thee, Our God; Glory Be to Thee.

Ever since the dawn of modern rationalism, skeptics have sought to use textual criticism, archaeology and historical reconstructions to uncover the "historical Jesus" -- a wise teacher who said many wonderful things, but fulfilled no prophecies, performed no miracles and certainly did not rise from the dead in triumph over sin.

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Just what is “Calvinism?” Does this teaching make man a deterministic robot and God the author of sin? What about free will? If the church accepts Calvinism, won’t evangelism be stifled, perhaps even extinguished? How can we balance God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility? What are the differences between historic Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism? Why did men like Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, Whitefield, Edwards and a host of renowned Protestant evangelists embrace the teaching of predestination and election and deny free will theology?

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The Real Jesus:
A Defense of the Divinity and Historicity of Christ
is now available! This is a two hour, ten minute presentation debunking the myths about Jesus propogated by liberal theologians, which seem to be repeated endlessly in the popular media. You can order the newly expanded and improved DVD version hosted by Eric Holmberg and view some video clips from "Podcast" version as well ...